Appeals court throws out graft case vs De Oro mayor, city treasurer

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—Mayor Oscar Moreno and another official won a petition at the Court of Appeals (CA) against a graft case involving a 2014 tax deal with a Japanese food company that operates in this city.

The CA junked the graft case against Moreno and acting city treasurer Glenn Banez for a deal that reduced the tax liability of food company Ajinomoto, maker of seasonings, from P2.9 million to P300,000.

“Justice is alive,” said Moreno in a statement released after the CA ruling’s release on Tuesday.

The ruling threw out a Feb. 15 order of the Office of the Ombudsman recommending the dismissal of Moreno and Banez and the filing of charges against them.

No council OK

The case had been filed by William Guialani, former village chief of Taglimao, who accused Moreno and Banez of grave misconduct for entering into the deal without approval by the city council.

The Ombudsman, in an order dated Aug. 14, 2015, sided with Guialani and ordered Moreno’s and Banez’s dismissal. The antigraft body affirmed this on Feb. 15 this year.

Moreno ran to the CA, which not only junked the Ombudsman’s order but also dismissed the administrative cases against Moreno and Banez.

The CA, in its ruling, said there was no substantial evidence that Moreno was involved in the deal. There is also no evidence of irregularity in the deal, the CA said.

The court said the tax deal also did not need city council approval. “Since no law has been violated, no grave misconduct was ever committed,” said the CA.

It said the city government did not lose money but earned P300,000 contrary to the Ombudsman’s argument that there was “diversion of public funds.”

The court affirmed Moreno’s claim that the Ombudsman violated his right to due process when it did not accept his counter affidavit. —JIGGER JERUSALEM