Thursday, May 29, 2008
Tomas welcomes case dismissal
CALLING Capitol lawyers “incompetent”, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña welcomed the court’s dismissal of the Province’s petition for a declaratory relief, even if it was based on a mere technicality.
“Dili man na akong sala na mga bogo ang mga abogado sa Capitol. It’s not my fault, but I’ll accept it. And I’m happy that they’re not competent,” Osmeña told reporters yesterday.
In dismissing the complaint, Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 20 Judge Bienvenido Saniel Jr. said a complaint for declaratory relief should be filed before a contract, statute or right has been breached, otherwise it won’t prosper.
Meanwhile, Capitol consultant on information lawyer Rory Jon Sepulveda yesterday laughed off Osmeña’s comment that Capitol lawyers are “bogo.”
Sepulveda reiterated that Judge Saniel erred in dismissing the case simply because of “simple technicality.”
Citing a Supreme Court ruling, Sepulveda said Judge Saniel should have converted or declared null and void the appointment of Joel Mari Yu, head of the Cebu Investment Promotions Center, as member of the MCWD board.
In dismissing the case, Sepulveda said the court was merely washing off its hands in resolving the real issue.
Sepulveda, one of the legal counsels of Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, however, said that they still have “deep trust and confidence” on the Provincial Legal Office, which is headed by lawyer Marino Martinquilla.
Sepulveda said he will be meeting with Martinquilla and discuss the possibility of either to file a motion for reconsideration or file a separate suit.
In his news conference yesterday, Osmeña said Governor Garcia has been questioning his authority to appoint members of the Metropolitan Cebu Water District’s (MCWD) board of directors based on an outdated presidential decree.
Governor Garcia had argued that she is now the rightful appointing authority since the number of MCWD consumers in the city no longer makes up 75 percent of the water district’s total number of consumers.
She asserted that only 61.28 percent of Cebu City households are MCWD consumers.
But Osmeña said even if this were the case, the city’s consumers still make up the majority. (LCR/GMD)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (May 29, 2008 issue)
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