DISMISSED Cebu City mayor Michael Rama has shrugged off the Office of the Ombudsman’s rejection of his motion to reverse its decision dismissing him from service due to nepotism, saying it will not affect his candidacy in the May 2025 midterm elections.
Rama said that while the Ombudsman upheld its decision, he insisted that the anti-graft office has yet to implement it.
Rama, who is running for mayor in the upcoming polls, said he filed a petition before the Supreme Court (SC) last Feb. 10, seeking to invalidate the Ombudsman’s proceedings due to lack of jurisdiction and violation of his constitutional right to a speedy disposition of cases.
He considers this petition his primary legal remedy.
“All of it is now in the Supreme Court. Why are we only hearing this now?” he said in a phone interview with SunStar on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025.
No new evidence
Jose Balmeo Jr., deputy ombudsman for Military and Other Law Enforcement Offices, said in the nine-page order dismissing Rama’s motion for reconsideration that he failed to present new evidence that would impact the ruling’s result.
The copy of the latest decision, dated Jan. 15, was endorsed to the Cebu City Human Resource Division last Feb. 13.
Rama believes the timing of the Ombudsman’s decision was an attempt to moot his case before the SC.
The anti-graft office has upheld its penalty of dismissal from office and perpetual disqualification from holding public office against Rama.
Denial
Rama has denied committing nepotism during his more than two decades in politics. The Ombudsman found him guilty of hiring his two brothers-in-law as City Hall employees, but he argued that worse cases of nepotism exist within the City Government, with employees being related to or living near department heads.
“These brothers-in-law of mine were already employed at City Hall in previous administrations,” Rama said.
Meanwhile, Commission on Elections (Comelec) 7 Director Francisco Pobe said the decision on Rama’s candidacy in light of the Ombudsman’s ruling would come from the Comelec Central Office.
Pobe also said that Rama faces a separate disqualification petition, which remains pending before the Comelec en banc. If the Comelec en banc rules against him, Rama can file a motion for reconsideration. Should that fail, he may elevate the case to the SC, similar to the legal course taken by dismissed Mandaue City mayor Jonas Cortes, Pobe said.
Last September, Comelec issued Resolution 11044-A, which mandates the immediate cancellation of the certificates of candidacy of candidates penalized with disqualification by the Ombudsman.
On Oct. 22, 2024, the SC granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) in favor of both Cortes and Rama, preventing the enforcement of the Comelec resolution.
However, on Jan. 3, the Comelec en banc disqualified Cortes for material misrepresentation. He later secured another TRO from the SC on Jan. 20, preventing Comelec from removing his name from the official list of candidates before the ballot printing. / EHP