THE Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC) had cleared former Apas barangay captain Ramil Ayuman of the carnapping case filed by then acting mayor Margarita Osmeña in 2016.
In his decision, MTCC Judge Oscar Andrino said there was no sufficient evidence to convict Ayuman, who later won as barangay councilor of Barangay Apas in the last elections.
“Premises considered, judgment is hereby rendered, finding the accused, Ramil V. Ayuman, not guilty of the crime of violation of Art. 221, paragraph 2, of the Revised Penal Code for failure of the prosecution to prove the guilt of said accused beyond reasonable doubt,” a portion of the ruling read.
Ayuman and his lawyers welcomed the decision. He is the second barangay captain next to Aana Tabal of Barangay Tagba-o who the MTCC cleared for lack of evidence.
“I thank the court for the favorable decision, although I expected that the decision would be like this since there was no malice involved in the first place,” said Ayuman on the delayed return of the vehicle to City Hall in May 2016.
Ayuman, who is running for Cebu City Councilor in next year’s elections, hopes the court will also resolve his case against Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña who allegedly used the Dodge car a businessman donated to the City.
“Ang akong mensahe ngadto ni Mayor Tommy ug Margot, ngadto sa Ombudsman ug sa Office of the President nga dalion sab nila ang pag-resolve niadtong Dodge charger nga klaro kaayong dunay violation nga gigamit ug gidawat sa mayor gikan sa negusyante (My message to Mayor Tommy and Margot, to the Ombudsman and the Office of the President is for them to hasten the resolution on the Dodge Charger which was a clear violation since the mayor accepted it from the businessman),” said Ayuman.
Osmeña’s case against Ayuman stemmed from the latter’s delay in returning the City’s vehicle on May 24, 2016, when the Department of General Services had an inventory of all City Government vehicles.
Ayuman returned the vehicle on May 31, 2016 after he received the memorandum the mayor sent.
In March 2017, the fiscal filed the case at the MTCC and Ayuman pleaded not guilty on April 27, 2017.
Ayuman also hopes that the court will also junk the cases Osmeña filed against Tisa Barangay Captain Phillip Zafra, former Tinago barangay captain and now City Councilor Joel Garganera, and three other barangay captains who are against the administration. (from PAC of SuperBalita Cebu)