CEBU CITY – First, the fixtures at the Office of the City Mayor in Cebu were stripped off, now the official seal of the office is missing. The official seal was discovered missing during the oath-taking of Councilor Jerry Guardo before new Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella, who defeated Tomas Osmeña.
Labella said he was looking for the official seal so he could use it for the oath-taking ceremony, but even his staff could not find it. “I thought it was just the (toilet) bowl that was lost, but also the seal.” He said the official seal is very important because it is the symbol of the power and authority of the Office of the City Mayor.
He pointed out that the seal is a government property donated to the local government. The mayor said he ordered for an extensive search for the official seal. Labella said he was shocked to find out that the mayor’s office which was previously occupied by Osmeña was stripped of all fixtures.
The shelves, light and plumbing fixtures, partitions and door, ceiling and floor works were removed as these were all allegedly owned by Osmeña, who claimed to have spent his own money for the beautification and improvement of the office.
The General Services Office also certified that all of what was removed from the mayor’s office is owned by Osmeña, who earlier explained that he used his personal funds to renovate the office in 2016 and he has the program of works to show as proof of this.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said it will investigate Osmeña over the removal of facilities and furniture in his office shortly before stepping down from his post. “The DILG will investigate the reported act of former Cebu Mayor Osmena of stripping the Mayor’s office of everything from ceiling to floor tiles rendering it unusable and completely bare. The investigation will uncover the facts of this matter,” DILG spokesperson Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya told reporters.
He said as a general rule, an official may only remove movable furniture and fixtures such as chairs, tables, and computers that are his part of personal property when he ends his term, but the act of even removing what are considered immovable objects like ceiling, walls, and the tiles is already bad faith because it renders the office, which is government property, as unusable by his successor and therefore affects the delivery of public service to the people of Cebu City.
“Under the Civil Code, immovable improvements may only be removed by the owner if it does not cause damage or injury to the work constructed,” Malaya said, suggesting that Osmeña should have filed a claim for indemnification for all the immovable improvements that he introduced to the office so that reimbursements should have been made.
“But to strip the mayor’s office of everything is strange, uncalled for, and could expose the mayor to legal action for violation of various laws in [Republic Act] 3019 for causing injury to the government,” Malaya pointed out. DILG Undersecretary Epimaco Densing also said Osmeña should prove that he indeed paid personally for the improvements in his former office.
“Osmeña needs to prove that since all the things inside the office is government property,” Densing said, adding, newly-elected local government officials should file before the Office of the Ombudsman charges against the former mayor for allegedly destroying government properties and for failing to adhere to the agency’s order for the proper transition of the office.
“We assume that those are government property unless proven otherwise. Second, (former) Mayor Osmeña can face charges because first of all, we issued a memorandum circular signed by Secretary Eduardo Año that there must be proper transition. It seems he did not cooperate with the transition and because of that, he can face administrative charges,” Densing said.
“He can be also held criminally liable at the Office of the Ombudsman because it can be considered damage to property. The government has to spend taxpayers’ money to restore government property,” he added.
Osmeña said he paid for the repair of the office in 2010 with his friends amounting to P2 million since the budget had been rejected by Labella, who was the City Council head back then. Labella said even the plumbing system and electrical connection were disconnected, the ceiling and tiles were stripped off and no furniture were left aside from the two industrial air-conditioners and some chairs. (Luel Galarpe and Christopher Lloyd Caliwan.)
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