Complainant says case vs. mayor taking long

The criminal case against Daanbantayan Mayor Maria Luisa Loot has been sleeping at the Third Division of the Sandiganbayan for over a year now since the issuance of warrant of arrest and posting of P30,000 bail by the accused for graft charge sometime in November last year.

The Sandiganbayan seemed to be ignoring the endorsements from Supreme Court Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban and from the Department of Justice Assistant Secretary Teresita Reyes-Domingo, according to the complainant of the case Jeronimo Cosido.

Cosido, who approached The FREEMAN, said that he received the copies of communications from SC and DOJ to Sandiganbayan, but he is wondering why the Sandiganbayan did not send even a single communication informing him of the action taken.

Cosido asked for help from SC and DOJ for speedy resolution of the case while Loot is withholding his monthly salaries and benefits as municipal employee of Daanbantayan for more than three years now.

The case against Loot stemmed from the 2003 complaint of Cosido, who alleged that the mayor treated him with spite to get back at his brother, Bartolome, who charged the mayor with a case of his own.

Bartolome, a businessman, initiated charges against Loot sometime before August 2002 for implementing a tax ordinance that raised business taxes without the approval of the Cebu Provincial Board.

Jeronimo claimed Loot and her husband, Cebu Police Provincial Office chief Vicente Loot, approached him at the height of the conflict to ask him that he sign an affidavit discrediting his own brother, but he refused.

Jeronimo was eventually relieved as the municipal social welfare and development officer and given the task of community affairs officer, answering directly to the Office of the Mayor.

The mayor then issued a memorandum directing the municipal treasurer and the payroll officer not to process the salaries of employees whose daily time records were not signed by the department head.

Then, Jeronimo alleged that Loot refused to sign his DTRs, making him unable to claim his salaries and benefits for over three years now until he was dropped by Loot from the roster of municipal employees just recently. - Gregg M. Rubio