BACOLOD City Legal Officer Joselito Bayatan said on Monday, September 17, he will file a motion for reconsideration before the City Prosecutor’s Office within a week following the dismissal of the libel complaint he filed against the five construction material suppliers and contractors in the city.
Bayatan said they already check the backgrounds on the case and they are preparing the documents to file their appeal.
Last week, the Regional Trial Court ordered the release of Perfecto Seneres and Mark Anthony Diaz, who were arrested at the Bacolod Government Center for an alleged distribution of libelous documents against the city officials.
Bayatan then filed libel complaints against Seneres, Diaz and their companions Antonio Wong, Edgar Cadagat and Nemesio Demafiles, who appeared as signatories on the libelous documents.
During the hearing last week, the camp of the accused through their legal counsel Rey Gorgonio was set to file a complaint about habeas corpus or unlawful detention of the two, but in the course of the discussion, the court judge received the copy of the dismissal by the City Prosecutor and immediately ordered the release of the two accused and the complaint about habeas corpus was already considered moot and academic.
Bayatan said these “black propaganda” from the very start is really ill-motivated because the group of Seneres, Diaz, Cadagat, Wong, and Demfiles was claimed as the collector of Penjan Builders and Supply.
“They are only an agent to collect the payment from the City Government,” he said.
The Penjan Builders was contracted by the City Government during the administration of former mayor Monico Puentevella for construction materials supply.
On March 23, 2016, Penjan Builders was awarded a contract by Puentevella in the amount of P3.8 million.
Bayatan said these people already made an initial mode for collection, but until now, they were not paid for committing violations of election ban and the procurement act.