Mayor asks Ombuds to lift suspension

CEBU, Philippines - Sibonga Mayor Lionel Bacaltos is seeking the reversal of the decision of the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas finding him guilty of simple misconduct.

Bacaltos claimed he acted within his authority as the local chief executive when he ordered the removal of the tennis nets at the pubic tennis courts.

He also asked the Department of Interior and Local Government not to implement the suspension pending the resolution of his motion for reconsideration.

The Office of the Ombudsman earlier ordered that Bacaltos be suspended for three months without pay.

“The tennis court is indisputably part of the municipality’s public plaza, hence, a public property. Although technically the tennis court may not be considered a plaza, therefore beyond the purview of Section 21 of Republic Act 7160, respondent is still without authority to arbitrarily cause its closure without at least notifying the public – the taxpayers for whom the tennis court was built,” the Ombudsman’s decision reads.

Bacaltos, however, said his action was within his authority, citing Section 16 (general welfare) of Republic Act 7160 or the Local Government Code. He also cited the case of Batangas CATV, Inc. versus The Court of Appeals, et al. (G.R. No. 138810, 29 September 2004).

He said that because the tennis court is a public property, this must be open for free use for everyone, not just for the members of the tennis club.

Bacaltos said complainants Tito Satera, Nestor Ponce, Fabian Jose Teves, George Chan, Irvin Rizon, Gerson Chan and Aurelio Amores – members of the Southeast Sibonga Tennis Club – reportedly charged and collected a fee for non-members who used the tennis court.

“That the group of the complainants does not have the permission or authority from the Municipal Government of Sibonga to charge and collect this so-called court fee. Clearly, the act of the respondent Bacaltos, in so preventing that a public property, the tennis court, be exploited only the few elite and privileged (Tito Satera, et al.) is a manifestation of good governance. Good governance should be lauded and not punished,” the motion reads further.

In his original complaint, Chan alleged that on June 2, 2012, he saw some men removing the tennis nets from the public tennis court. When he asked them why they did so, the men informed him that Bacaltos had ordered the removal.

In his counter-affidavit, Bacaltos said that sometime in June 2013, he informed the club that the tennis court would be used as venue of the DepEd Provincial Meet and that it needed to be prepared.

He also admitted ordering the tennis court locked down after he received complaints that it was used exclusively by members of the club.

The Ombudsman said, however, that Bacaltos failed to prove the exclusive use of the court.  — (FREEMAN)