“I FELT like a melting ice.”
Mayor Oscar Moreno poured his heart out even as he admitted to being greatly hurt by accusations of corruption as a result of the Office of the Ombudsman’s 2015 ruling that held him liable for grave misconduct.
“It was very painful,” said Moreno of what he once referred to as the worst political crisis so far that he had to deal with since he became a politician.
From Vienna where he is participating in a United Nations-sponsored conference on global economy, Moreno said, “I never imagined politics can be that cruel and merciless.”
On Monday, Moreno heaved a sigh of relief after the Court of Appeals (CA) sent city hall a copy of its Oct. 13 ruling that dismissed the grave misconduct charges against him and city treasurer Glenn Bañez, and reversed the ombudsman’s decision to punish them with dismissal and perpetual disqualification from holding public office.
“God is good! Thank God and the people! Thanks a lot for all those who have supported and inspired us during those extremely trying times!” a jubilant Moreno said on Tuesday.
He added: “Justice is alive in Cagayan de Oro!”
The CA decision, according to Moreno, provided him relief because the associate justices extensively discussed the merits of the case. That, he said, was what he has been asking the Office of the Ombudsman to do.
Moreno earlier complained that the ombudsman decided on the case last year without considering his explanation as it missed out on his counter-affidavit. Early this year, the ombudsman dismissed his motion for reconsideration despite him showing evidence that he sent his counter-affidavit on time and that it was received by the Office. One of the ombudsman’s reasons for dismissing the motion: Moreno only sent a photocopy of his counter-affidavit.
He has called the case as a politically motivated smear campaign.
“This ruling somehow relieved me from the pains I went through in that grand demolition job,” said Moreno, pointing out that the controversy was used in the attempt to vote him out of office in the May elections.
Moreno told the Gold Star Daily:“Grabe ang demolition job and demolition job… Without letup and incessantly vigorous. Unprecedented. But truth and justice prevailed…
“The 20 long years that I have dedicated to the private sector where I painstakingly built my name in a silent and slow way were beclouded by that demolition job. Nadamay din ang six years as congressman and nine years as governor. I felt like a melting ice.”
Moreno said he drew his strength from his family, relatives and friends, “and most especially God and the people who did not cease in supporting and inspiring me.”
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