Nuñez hits CA over its ‘unlimited’ TROs

By LITO RULONA
Correspondent

THE man who filed 48 administrative and criminal cases against Mayor Oscar Moreno over the capitol’s heavy equipment leases when the official was governor yesterday lambasted the Court of Appeals here over what he called as its ‘‘unlimited” issuances of temporary restraining orders in favor of the local chief executive.

“Nabalaka kita nga mogawas ang 48 ka dismissal [orders] and then mogawas pud ang 48 ka TROs. Abi man nako og rice ra ang unlimited apan apil naman diay ang TRO,” said Antonio Nuñez as he questioned last week’s resolution by a CA special division composed of Associate Justices Louis Acosta, Edgardo Camello and Oscar Badelles.

On Friday, the CA issued an order that prevented the Office of the Ombudsman and the Department of Interior and Local Government from implementing five new decisions to dismiss and perpetually disqualify Moreno from public office in connection with administrative cases filed by Nuñez. The CA’s order is effective for 60 days.

Nuñez also lambasted the DILG and its regional director, Arnel Agabe, for not immediately serving the dismissal orders from the ombudsman to Moreno.

“Natingala ako kay migawas naman gilayon ang TRO. I am even questioning the DILG and Director Agabe,” he said.

Over local radio, Nuñez said the CA was quick in issuing the two-month TRO. He alleged that the TRO was issued less than 24 hours from the time Moreno received the ombudsman’s dismissal orders.

Nuñez also questioned the CA and accused it of issuing the TRO without carefully looking into the ombudsman’s rulings against Moreno.

“I am now questioning the CA that immediately released the TRO without verification of the contents of the decision made by the ombudsman,” Nuñez said.

He maintained that he has strong cases against Moreno since his wife, lawyer Janeth Nuñez, has personal knowledge of the transactions of one of the firms from which the capitol supposedly leased heavy equipment.

Incidentally, Nuñez wife Janeth lawyered for former vice mayor Caesar Ian Acenas in his failed attempt to assume as mayor of the city in late 2015 when the ombudsman issued a dismissal and disqualification order against Moreno in connection with the controversial city hall-Ajinomoto tax settlement.

Nuñez said his wife served as a lawyer for Monark Heavy Equipment Corp. who signed lease contracts. He said his wife’s position gave them access to Monark’s documents.

He said they checked the firm’s files and found nothing in the notarial book about the lease of heavy equipment by the capitol when Moreno was governor.

Nuñez also claimed that Monark manager for Mindanao Rey Austria certified that the firm did not rent out any of the company’s heavy equipment to the capitol for use in its infrastructure projects.

In his defense, according to Nuñez, Moreno explained that the the heavy equipment was rented through one Ms. Ebana, a Monark employee. But Nuñez said Ebana was not in-charge of the firm’s sales and marketing.

Nuñez said they also found out that a Monark employee named Rey Moreno, supposedly a cousin of the mayor’s, was the one who allegedly facilitated the transaction.

“Kami nagtuo nga gisapote nila kini og trabaho para maelease ang kuarta,” Nuñez alleged.

He said it was made to appear that the capitol rented an Isuzu truck from Monark. “That’s wrong because Monark is an exclusive supplier of Caterpillar trucks,” he said.

Nuñez  said there were similar questionable transactions with other companies. “Bisan gani ang other truck companies nga gi-identify sa camp ni Moreno nga ila kuno nga gihulaman ang mi-deny sa ilang claim,” he said.

He alleged that another company, JU Transport Corp., also denied that the firm had transactions with the provincial government.

Nunez said the CA did not “verify diligently” the transactions made by the former governor before it issued the TRO.