SC halts suspension of Lipa mayor

The Supreme Court has stopped the implementation of the nine months suspension order imposed by the Office of the Ombudsman against Lipa City Mayor Meynardo Sabili.

Sabili was suspended after he was found guilty of conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service over allegations that he harassed his former clients in a property settlement case.

Aside from the Ombudsman, also covered by the high court’s order are the Court of Appeals and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

The high court granted Sabili’s petition who cited the  “condonation doctrine” that extinguishes the administrative liability of an elective public official once re-elected.

The TRO is “effective immediately and continuing until further orders from this Court … enjoining the respondents, the Court of Appeals, the Office of the Ombudsman, and the Department of Interior and Local Government, their agents, representatives and anyone acting in their behalf from implementing the decision dated 9 August 2016 of the Office of the Ombudsman in OMB-L-A-15-0313,” the SC in the resolution dated Oct. 5, 2016.

Sabili was suspended based on the complaint filed by Oscar Camerino, Efren Camerino and eight other owners of three parcels of land in Victoria Homes in Barangay Tunasan, Muntinlupa City.

The complainants said Sabili introduced himself as a lawyer and real estate broker. He agreed to represent him in the settlement cases in March 2010 in exchange for ownership of 50,000 square meters of the Victoria property.

But two years later, complainants said Sabili filed a civil case against them to get his share of the property even if he allegedly failed to deliver on his tasks./rga