THE Office of the Ombudsman has found former Cebu City mayor Michael Rama and former city assessor Maria Theresa Rosell guilty of oppression and grave abuse of authority over the irregular reassignment of four employees from the City Assessor’s Office in 2023.
In its 28-page ruling dated September 1, 2025, the Ombudsman said Rama and Rosell acted “with cruelty, severity, and excessive use of authority” when they ordered the transfer of regular employees without valid grounds, removed them from the payroll, and left them without specific duties or functions.
The case stemmed from a complaint filed on February 23, 2024, by Filomena Atuel, Maria Almicar Diongzon, Sybil Ann Ybañez, and Chito Dela Cerna, who accused the two officials of grave misconduct, oppression, grave abuse of authority, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.
Invalid reassignments
According to the Ombudsman, the four complainants then serving as tax mappers were reassigned “without valid grounds, stripped of pay, and left without clear duties,” an action that “effectively prevented them from performing their regular functions.”
The Civil Service Commission (CSC) Regional Office VII had earlier declared the reassignment “invalid and without legal effect,” noting that it did not meet the exigency of public service and deprived the employees of their right to work and receive compensation.
The Ombudsman also cited how the complainants were removed from payroll, denied salaries and benefits, and subjected to surveillance, describing these as “indicia of an invalid reassignment, a far cry from being regular and made in the exigency of public service.”
Rosell’s ‘oppressive’ memo
The decision also took note of a memorandum issued by Rosell on October 18, 2023, which prohibited the reassigned employees from following up transactions at the Assessor’s Office.
The Ombudsman called the directive “highly suspicious,” saying it came after the complainants had returned to work and filed multiple grievances before the CSC, DILG, BLGF, Arta, and the Ombudsman itself.
“The contents thereof, which specifically targeted complainants, constitute oppression defined as any act of cruelty, severity, unlawful exaction, domination, or excessive use of authority,” the ruling stated, describing the memo as “unfair, unreasonable, and issued in bad faith.”
Rama’s defense rejected
The Ombudsman dismissed Rama’s claim that the transfers were merely an exercise of management prerogative, calling his explanation “self-serving and off-tangent.”
“The inclusion of reassignment provisions in the 2017 Rules on Administrative Cases in the Civil Service aims precisely to determine whether an order of reassignment addresses a legitimate exigency in public service or one attended with malice and irregularity,” the decision read.
Penalty and fine
For these acts, the Ombudsman found both Rama and Rosell guilty of four counts of oppression or grave abuse of authority, one for each complainant, and imposed the maximum penalty of a one-year suspension from public service.
However, since both are no longer in government service, Rama having lost in the May 2025 local elections and Rosell already out of her post, the suspension was converted into a fine equivalent to six months’ salary, payable to the Ombudsman and deductible from any accrued benefits or leave credits.
“In the event that the penalty of suspension can no longer be served due to respondents’ separation from the service, the same shall be converted into a fine equivalent to respondents’ salary for six months,” the ruling stated.
Dismissal of co-respondents
Meanwhile, the Ombudsman cleared City Administrator Collin Rosell and five other officials, Francis May Jacaban, Angelique Cabugao, Jay-Ar Pescante, Lester Joey Beniga, and Nelyn Sanrojo, for lack of substantial evidence.
Previous cases
This is not the first administrative case involving Rama. In May 2024, the Ombudsman ordered his preventive suspension for six months while investigating the same reassignment issue.
Later that year, in October 2024, Rama was also dismissed from service in a separate case for alleged grave misconduct and abuse of authority, a decision he later appealed but which the Ombudsman upheld in early 2025.
Rama’s term officially ended after he lost the May 2025 mayoral race to then-Councilor Nestor Archival Sr.
When sought for comment by the media, Rama stated that all legal matters are being handled by his lawyer. (CAV)