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Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Mary Ann as chief fiscal of Cebu City? ‘A big joke’
Amid the uproar over the reported endorsement of Acting Talisay City Prosecutor Mary Ann Castro as the next Cebu City prosecutor, Cebu City officials endorsed Acting City Prosecutor Nicolas Sellon to assume the post permanently.
Mayor Tomas Osmeña described Castro’s possible appointment as a big joke, adding it’s unlikely it will happen.
In a news conference yesterday, the mayor also said he does not think Castro is capable of handling the city prosecutor’s office.
Osmeña initially endorsed Sellon as officer-in-charge but because of the prodding to fill the post permanently, he and Rep. Antonio Cuenco (Cebu City, south) endorsed Sellon to replace former city prosecutor Cezar Tajanlangit.
Last week, judges, lawyers and other Palace of Justice employees reacted to reports that Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez has endorsed Castro as the next prosecutor.
“Why are you giving this importance? I think it’s a big joke. I don’t want to waste my time discussing this issue, I don’t think it’s really going to happen,” he said of Castro’s possible appointment.
Tajanlangit resigned last Feb. 21 after 10 months in office to work for the US Embassy.
Castro, who has faced cases before the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas, worked previously with the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office before being named acting Talisay City prosecutor.
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Cebu City chapter has also endorsed Sellon.
But Osmeña reiterated his statement that the IBP should not be endorsing anybody since it clearly shows a conflict of interest.
“They’re doing Sellon an injustice,” he said.
Although the IBP earlier said it has no recommendations for the post, it came out with a resolution stating that the lawyers’ group wants to have a say in the choice of the next Cebu City prosecutor.
“We just feel that we should be given the venue to give our comments about each of the recommendees. We have the competence to speak of the morality, competence and achievement of each of the nominees because we deal with them every day as lawyers,” IBP-Cebu director Gloria Lastimosa-Dalawampu said in an earlier interview. (LCR)
(March 16, 2005 issue)
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