Bacolod mayor: We will fight this out in court

BACOLOD City Mayor Evelio Leonardia vowed to fight the criminal case filed against him and other city executives by the Office of the Ombudsman before the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division for the procurement of furniture and fixtures worth almost P50 million in 2008.

“We are very hopeful that the Sandiganbayan will see this case as the Court of Appeals (CA) also saw it and, eventually, render judgment in our favor. As already mentioned, the facts of the case are exactly the same for both the administrative and criminal cases,” he said.

Leonardia said in a press statement on Sunday, December 3, that the Ombudsman case against them involving the procurement of furniture and fixtures for the Bacolod Government Center covers two aspects, the administrative case and the criminal case.

“We fought the administrative case at the CA, which granted me a temporary restraining order (TRO) in January 2017 against the dismissal sanction of the Ombudsman. Eventually, in September 2017, the CA exonerated me and six other co-respondents on this administrative case while ruling that two other respondents were guilty only of ‘simple misconduct’ for which they were penalized with a three-month suspension,” the mayor said.

The Ombudsman filed a motion for reconsideration of the decision, which is still pending resolution by the CA.

“So, we have valid reasons to be hopeful. Even the Ombudsman admits in its own resolution that there was no conspiracy and no evident bad faith in our handling of this procurement, and that all the furniture items were delivered. There was even no mention of overprice,” Leonardia said.

“To our supporters, we assure you that we will fight this out in court. We believe the law and the facts of this case are on our side. Nevertheless, we ask for your prayers and continued support so that our consistent legal defense will win the day for us in the end,” the mayor added.

For the administrative case, on September 6, 2017, the Visayas Station of CA 18th Division in Cebu City reversed the dismissal order of the Ombudsman against Leonardia and eight city executives.

The December 2, 2016, joint resolution of the Ombudsman was modified in that the charges against petitioners Leonardia, Atty. Goldwyn Nifras, Luzviminda Treyes, Nelson Sedillo Sr., Belly Aguillon, Aladino Agbones, and Jaries Ebenizer Encabo were dismissed.

Meanwhile, petitioners Melvin Recabar and Eduardo Ravena were found guilty of simple misconduct instead of grave misconduct and gross neglect of duty, and meted the penalty of suspension for a period of three months without pay.