CDO mayor ordered suspended gets relief from CA anew

CDO Mayor Oscar Moreno. PHOTO FROM MORENO’S FACEBOOK PAGE

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—The Court of Appeals on Thursday issued a temporary restraining order against the three-month suspension order that the Ombudsman  recently slapped on Mayor Oscar Moreno.

The suspension order, issued early this month by Ombudsman Mindanao against Moreno and two other city hall officials, was in connection with the housing and training facility for the city’s aspiring boxers.

READ: Reelected CDO mayor Moreno ordered suspended amid graft rap

“We welcome the TRO. The three-month suspension is a long time for him (Moreno) to accomplish many things as mayor,” city information officer Maricel Casiño-Rivera said on Friday morning.

Casiño-Rivera said the complaint filed against Moreno, city budget officer Percy Salazar and city accountant Beda Joy Elot was “pure harassment” and that the complainant, Puntod village chair Marvin Beja, did not even look at the program that benefited young boxers, many of whom have already gained titles in national bouts and some have qualified in international competitions.

The complaint stemmed from the budget that Moreno allocated for the accommodation of the boxers. He also approved a lease contract on a private property to house them at P35,000 a month from August to December 2013.

Beja alleged the funds were released without the approval of the city council, but Moreno in a previous interview said the payment of the rental was done in compliance with the law.

In the three-page resolution, CA Justices Edgardo Camello, Oscar Badelles and Ronaldo Martin granted the city officials a 60-day reprieve effective Thursday.

Casiño-Rivera said the city hall received a copy of the TRO on the day it was issued by the CA.

Beja’s complaint was the second case filed against Moreno by his  political opponents.

Recently, former village chief William Guialani also sued Moreno at the Office of the Ombudsman for a tax settlement the city government has entered with Ajinomoto Philippines.

Guialani, a known supporter of former mayor Vicente Emano, alleged that the mayor and city treasurer Glenn Bañez did not ask authority from the city council before entering into the deal.

Moreno and Bañez were ordered dismissed from service over the tax deal but they were able to obtain a writ of preliminary injunction from the CA./rga

READ: CA reinstalls Oscar Moreno as CDO mayor