Mayor defends guilty verdict

CEBU, Philippines - Sibonga Mayor Lionel Bacaltos defended the guilty verdict handed to him by the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas for simple misconduct, saying it was only due to technicality.

“Ang akong abogado wa ka-file og position paper, na-technical hinuon mi,” said Bacaltos in an interview with the media the other day.

Bacaltos, a third-term mayor, will face a 90-day suspension after the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas found him guilty of simple misconduct.

The administrative complaint stemmed from last year’s incident when he ordered the tennis nets at the public tennis court removed reportedly without notifying the public, despite the fact that there was a scheduled tournament at the time.

The complaint was filed by Tito Satera, Nestor Ponce, Fabian Jose Teves, George Chan, Irvin Rizon, Gerson Chan and Aurelio Amores, all residents of the town.

But Bacaltos said he did not arbitrarily order the removal of the nets; it just so happened that the town was host to the Department of Education Provincial Meet and the tennis court was to be used for the tennis matches.

He said the complainants are club members who allegedly “privatized” the facility for their own use, and at that time, had a scheduled tournament, which coincided with the DepEd sports event.

“Nagsabot na mi sa mga principal. So isip mayor, akong gipahunong (the tournament),” Bacaltos said, adding that the school children had also the same right as the club members to use the facility, considering that this is owned by the government.

The mayor said the complaint could be politically-motivated especially that one of the complainants was a rival in last year’s election.

Bacaltos said he has not yet received a copy of the order for his suspension. Right now, he is preparing his motion for reconsideration in the hope that the decision would be reversed. — (FREEMAN)