Council had ‘special session’ only 29 minutes after notice

By NITZ ARANCON
and LITO RULONA
Correspondents

A TEXT message meant to notify him of a special city council session on Tuesday came at 3:31 pm. Twenty-nine minutes later, councilors met and passed a resolution officially recognizing outgoing Vice Mayor Caesar Ian Acenas as mayor and Councilor Lourdes Darimbang as vice mayor.

Councilor Zaldy Ocon yesterday lashed out at the Padayon Pilipino for staging what he called as a “bogus session” of the city council.

Ocon said that based on the city council’s house rules, councilors have to be notified at least 24 hours before any special session.

“They text-ed me at 3:31  pm, and then they met at 4 pm supposedly for a special session. How can I go to the city council with such a short notice?” asked Ocon.

Ocon said the city council proceedings on Wednesday afternoon were all invalid.

He also questioned the “authority” of Councilor Darimbang to call for a special session.

“Kinsa man si Darimbang nga magpatawag ug special session. Unsa may iyang authority?” asked Ocon rhetorically.

Ocon sharply criticized the Padayon Pilipino and Darimbang, its “adopted” candidate for congresswoman in the May elections, even as Mayor Oscar Moreno announced he would be pressing administrative and criminal charges against Acenas and Darimbang for usurpation and grave abuse of authority.

Resolution no. 2016-167 officially recognized Acenas and Darimbang, and the appointment of Ramon Mendoza as acting city treasurer. It also authorized Acenas and Darimbang to sign documents and checks on behalf of city hall.

Moreno told a news conference he would also sue all the councilors who approved the Tuesday resolution. The councilors are Ramon Tabor, Adrian Barba, Alden Bacal,  Alexander Dacer, Dante Pajo, Dometilo Acenas Jr.,  Nadya Elipe, President Elipe, and Alam Lim.

“Their ‘assumption’ does not even have a color of legal title,” said Moreno.

Councilor Edna Dahino, who earlier pledged to support the Moreno administration, would not be charged because she did not favor the resolution.

Councilors Annie Daba, Leon Gan, Teodulfo Lao, Enrico Salcedo,  Roger Abaday, and Ocon were absent.

Darimbang, for her part, said she and the other councilors have not done anything wrong, asserting that the recent decision of the ombudsman was “final and executory.”

“We believe that the order is legal. According to our legal counsels, final and executory man ang decision sa ombudsman. Mao na nga mahimo nang molingkod si Acenas sa pagka-mayor, hangtud June 30 (today) para walay vacant mosaka pud ko pagka-vice mayor,” she said.

Security has been tightened at city hall ahead of the July 1 oathtaking of Moreno before former Senate president Aquilino Pimentel Jr., a former mayor of the city.

Moreno warned Acenas against forcing the issue, saying he would not hesitate to have him arrested by the police if he insisted.

“Kining ilang gabuhaton ngil-ad na man ni kaayo. I cannot take this sitting down. Kon manghilabot sila dinhi, ako silang ipadakop… they will be arrested,” said Moreno, maintaining that the mayoral seat has not been vacated despite the ombudsman’s most recent ruling upholding its decision  to dismiss him, and perpetually disqualify him from public office.

Moreno said city hall operations were normal, and he would have anyone disrupting it arrested.

The ombudsman recently dismissed Moreno’s motion for reconsideration in connection with the grave misconduct case filed by former Taglimao barangay chairman William Guialani. The case stemmed from a 2013 tax settlement between city hall and Ajinomoto Philippines, an agreement questioned by Guialani.

Moreno said the law gives him time to bring his appeal to the appellate court so the ombudsman’s ruling on Aug. 14, 2015 can be reviewed.

He maintained that the ombudsman missed out on his counter affidavit when it decided on the case filed by Guialani.

Moreno also said the Office of Ombudsman has found his reason to be sound but this has to be proven in court, and not before the ombudsman.

“Mao nang akong tan-aw nga sila (ombudsman) na mismo ang nag-ingon nga ‘if we made a mistake, prove it to  us, pero ayaw na dinhi sa  amo, and go to another tribunal.’ Mao kana ang mensahi sa denial sa ombudsman sa among motion for reconsideration,” Moreno said.

The ombudsman said in its eight-page denial of Moreno’s and city treasurer Glenn Banez’s motion for reconsideration that Moreno failed to present the original copy of his counter-affidavit which he claimed to have filed on time with the ombudsman.

Moreno assailed that his right to due process was violated in the Ombudsman decision as his counter-affidavit was not considered even if he filed it on time during the pendency of the case. The ombudsman acknowledged in its original ruling that the counter-affidavit of the mayor was not in the case file.

Moreno said he was dismayed because the Ombudsman could have asked him to show the original counter-affidavit. “I have with me the original which I will protect with my life,” Moreno said.

Moreno’s lawyer Dale Bryan Mordeno said one of the bases for the cases that were being prepared against Acenas and Co. is the June 28 letter the outgoing vice mayor sent to Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) regional director Arnel Agabe.

“Acenas wrote a letter to the DILG regional office to inform that office that he has assumed as mayor of Cagayan de Oro. We have taken precautionary measures because such a claim could create division, and may even result in a standoff at city hall,” Mordeno said.

He said Acenas was also risking being cited in contempt given an order from the Court of Appeals (CA).

Last year, the ombudsman slapped Moreno and Bañez with the penalty of dismissal from service and perpetual disqualification to hold public office for grave misconduct and abuse of authority.

The case stemmed from the unauthorized agreement between city hall and Ajinomoto Philippines that reduced the tax assessment for the firm from P2.9 million to P300 thousand.

Moreno filed a motion for reconsideration in November last year, asking the ombudsman to reverse what the mayor called as a “harsh” and “unfair” ruling. The ombudsman denied that motion on Feb. 15, 2016, and Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales approved it on March 3, 2016. The denial order was served on Monday afternoon.

Councilor Tabor said the resolution Tuesday was just a reiteration of a resolution passed by the city council on Nov. 12, 2015.

Tabor said that the resolution was not fully implemented then because Moreno was able to secure TRO and writ of preliminary injunction from Court of Appeals.

Moreno’s position has been bolstered by a June 22, 2016 resolution of the 22nd Division of the Court of Appeals trashing the motion of Acenas to intervene in the certiorari case filed by the mayor and Bañez to restrain the implementation of the ombudsman’s dismissal order.

In the 15-page ruling penned by Associate Justice Edgardo Camello and concurred by Associate Justices Oscar Badelles and Perpetua Atal-Pano, the CA laid down in clear terms that as long as Moreno exhausts all available legal remedies to his dismissal, there is no vacancy to speak of.

“It is true that the Ombudsman’s Decision has called for immediate execution of petitioner Moreno’s dismissal order, but while the dismissal order was made executory, it was never final. Appeal is even available to petitioner Moreno,” Camello wrote. (with reports from pna)