Mandaue City councilor faces six-month suspension

A 60-DAY suspension order was issued by the court against Mandaue City Councilor Editha Cabahug and seven village councilors in barangay Looc in relation to graft charges filed against them in May 8, 2008.

Cabahug, a former barangay chairperson of Looc, said she will air her side on the case in a press conference she is calling today. The charges were filed by Jesus Jamie Flores, a former Looc barangay councilor.

Flores told reporters that he was forced to file charges after the barangay council failed to comply with a Civil Service Commission (CSC) order to pay him his terminal leaves worth P148,246.

Also included in the suspension order were Erlinda Tarong, Liborio Arcana, Jose Lozano Jr., Alejandro Jayme, Raul “Skipper” Cabahug, Alberto Cabahug and Ma. Lilitha Basconillo.

“I complied with the requirements and she (Cabahug) even asked for my oath of office and certification from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) that I was elected for such position. But I was ignored even if I received a favorable reply from the Civil Service Commission, Commission on Audit, the Department of Interior and Local Governments (DILG) and The Ombudsman,” Flores said.

Flores said the CSC again ruled to process the payment but Cabahug still ignored the demand letters he sent to her.

Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Raphael Yrastorza Sr. of Branch 28 resolved the case in Flores’s favor.

The court also issued the 60-day suspension order on Cabahug and seven barangay officials last Sept. 23 and the order was released three days later.

Claire Diaz, DILG city operations officer, said her office has yet to receive the suspension order.

In Aloguinsan town,, acting Mayor Augustus Moreno said the municipal government’s operations were affected by the 90-day suspension order imposed on his wife Mayor Cynthia Moreno and seven other town officials.

“You really can’t avoid the distractions. There will be negative effects and we’re trying our best to minimize it,” he told reporters yesterday at the Capitol Social Hall.

Moreno attended yesterday’s Consultative Stakeholders Summit held there with other mayors from Cebu’s towns and cities.

Also suspended were the town’s civil registrar Pepito Manguilimotan, budget officer Nonela Villegas, agricultural officer Marilyn Flordeliza, municipal assessor John Lim, municipal engineer Orven Nengasca and utility worker Gertrudes Ababon.

Moreno’s graft case stemmed from a supply contract for steel materials for the Aloguinsan Municipal Hall that was allegedly awarded without a public bidding in 2007. Reporter Jucell Marie P. Cuyos and Correspondent Peter L. Romanillos