FORMER Cebu City mayor and south district congressman Tomas Osmeña is going after another City Hall department head.
This time, Osmeña has his sights on City Atty. Jerone Castillo.
Osmeña wants the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to revoke Castillo's appointment and dismiss him from public service with perpetual disqualification to hold any public position for "dishonesty" and "censurable conduct."
Castillo was appointed by Mayor Michael Rama.
In a four-page complaint filed before the CSC, Osmeña questioned the appointment of Castillo as legal officer because he is allegedly not a resident of the city.
This, he said, runs contrary to Republic Act (RA) 7160 otherwise known as the Local Government Code.
Resident
He invoked Section 481, which provides that "no person shall be appointed legal officer unless he is a citizen of the Philippines, a resident of the local government concerned," among others.
Osmeña said that Castillo is a resident of Barangay Poblacion Occidental, Consolacion in northern Cebu. He is also a registered voter of the town.
"Anchored on the explicit mandate of the law, the appointment of Castillo is tainted with defect as he is not a bona fide resident of Cebu City, which is one of the salient requirements of the law," said Osmeña.
Osmeña based his complaint on a barangay certificate signed by the Poblacion Occidental barangay captain, a certification from the Commission on Elections – Consolacion and Castillo’s driver's license.
Osmeña asked the CSC to require Castillo to submit proof of residence through billing statements with his address and his membership with the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, among others.
No concurrence
Aside from this, Osmeña said that Castillo's appointment has no concurrence from the City Council, which is a violation of Section 454 of RA 7160.
Castillo was appointed on July 1, 2013 or almost two years ago.
"Although the Code didn't provide for a period of submission to the council for concurrence, the inaction/non-submission of his appointment as mandated by law clearly constitutes gross neglect of duty on the part of the appointing authority and clear blind obedience on the part of the appointee amounting to usurpation of authority," Osmeña also said.
The former mayor also said that Castillo, as a lawyer, should have known the basic qualifications before he accepted the position as legal officer.
Saying he acted in bad faith, Osmeña said that Castillo should have not been entitled to the benefits of the office.
Sun.Star Cebu tried to get a statement from Rama but his mobile phone cannot be reached as of last night.
Castillo, for his part, said he has not yet received a copy of Osmeña's complaint.
He said he will answer all the issues raised by the former mayor once he receives the document.
Resolution
The complaint Osmeña filed before the CSC was dated November 2014 yet but it wasn't until last May 26 that the CSC Manila issued a resolution.
CSC asked Rama and Castillo to submit their answers three days from receipt of the resolution.
This is not the first time that Osmeña asked CSC to dismiss a City Hall department head from public service.
Last October, Osmeña filed 12 administrative cases against Acting City Treasurer Diwa Cuevas before the CSC.
Another 26 cases were filed before the Department of Finance.