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Thursday, July 07, 2005
Lawyer wants Tom held in contempt for ‘lying’
A lawyer wants Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña to explain why he should not be held in contempt of court for allegedly lying and disobeying a court order.
Alfredo Sipalay, who sued Osmeña and two other city officials over the closure of the Cebu South Coastal Road, said Osmeña lied to the court when he said he could not testify in court because he was attending a burial.
Being cited for contempt of court is punishable with a fine or a jail term.
Osmeña, through lawyers Rodolfo Golez and Joseph Bernaldez, earlier told the court that he could not attend the 3 p.m. court hearing last June 20 because he would attend the burial of Col. Zosimo Angan that afternoon.
Certification
But Sipalay was able to get a certification from the Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes that Angan was buried at 10 a.m. that day, and not at 3 p.m.
“Plaintiff (Sipalay) therefore files this manifestation so that the Honorable Court would know that the defendant Osmeña disobeyed to heed the subpoena issued by the court and went to the extent of lying to the court so that he can justify his action in disobeying it,” Sipalay said in his manifestation.
Sipalay said Osmeña’s actions in disobeying a court order and in lying to justify his disobedience constitute indirect contempt.
Osmeña is still on an official trip to Europe.
Sipalay filed a taxpayer’s suit for injunction with a prayer for the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction against Osmeña, City Administrator Francisco Fernandez and South Reclamation Project (SRP) manager Nigel Paul Villarete for closing the coastal road, which is inside the SRP.
Through their lawyers, the three officials have argued in court that they have the authority to temporarily close the coastal road because of the ongoing construction of a tunnel near Plaza Independencia and the rise of theft incidents in the SRP.
Regional Trial Court Geraldine Faith Econg earlier issued a subpoena to Osmeña to testify in court regarding the closure in the
scheduled hearing last June 20.
Lawyer Gloria Lastimosa-Dalawampu earlier requested the court to let Osmeña testify so the issue about the closure can be settled. (GN)
(July 7, 2005 issue)
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