By LITO RULONA
Correspondent
MAYOR Oscar Moreno yesterday filed a petition for a court order to prevent any move to serve Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales’s order to boot the local chief executive out of city hall.
Maricel Rivera, city hall spokesperson, confirmed that Moreno submitted the petition to the Court of Appeals (CA) yesterday morning.
Moreno’s lawyer Bryan Dale Mordeno said the petition sought the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) against any move to implement the ombudsman’s ruling to dismiss the mayor and bar him from holding public office for life.
The mayor and city treasurer Glenn Bañez were ordered dismissed by the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with a 2014 tax settlement between city hall and Ajinomoto Philippines without the city council’s go-ahead.
But while Moreno has assailed the ombudsman’s ruling and filed a motion for reconsideration, the controversial ruling, if served, would complicate the situation.
The mayor has appealed the ombudsman’s decision on Monday, arguing that it was a mistake because the ruling stated that he did not file his counter-affidavit when there is proof that he did.
Atty. Mordeno said the petition for a TRO was a precaution in case the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) serves an order to boot Moreno from city hall.
The DILG director in the region earlier said the Department still recognized Moreno as mayor of the city but would serve the ombudsman’s order if directed by his superiors in Manila.
“Bitin kaayo ba kay wala pud ta kabalo kung tinu-od ba gyud sa DILG. What we did, on our part as legal counsel of the mayor, wala kita’y mahimo except to anticipate that the order would be served any time,” said Mordeno.
He said the petition had to be submitted, and there was no other recourse but to file and seek the issuance of TRO from the appellate court.
“Kinahanglan ma-address kini nga issue tungod kay dili mahimo nga ma-out si Moreno sa iyang katundanan without hearing his side on the issue. This is a clear violation of the due process. It is unfair for him because he was elected by the people to lead the city as their mayor,” Mordeno said.
He said Moreno’s legal team did not want to wait for the Office of the Ombudsman-Mindanao to resolve the motion for reconsideration filed on Monday.
He explained that Moreno’s lawyers were racing against time while the ombudsman’s order has not been served yet because if implemented––meaning, Moreno is evicted from city hall––there would be nothing to prevent anymore, and the damage on the part of Moreno would be irreparable.
“Given the situation, what we can do is, kinahanglan nga kita molihok, dili na pwede nga maghulat kita sa sunod nga mahitabo. Dili pud pwede nga mo-ingon ang Court of Appeals nga moot and academic na kay na-implement na. This is our predicament now,” Mordeno said.
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