Cuenco reassumes City Council position

CEBU, Philippines — Starting today, Cebu City Councilor James Anthony Cuenco will reassume his post as member of the City Council after 15 months of being out of office.

At 2 p.m. yesterday, Cuenco received the reinstatement order served by staff members of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Cebu City at his residence along M. Velez Street.

“I’m very happy that, finally, the final order has been released by the DILG in spite of the fact that it’s really long overdue. It’s been almost three months since the decision of the Court of Appeals reversing the decision of the Ombudsman came out,” he told reporters.

Even with his reinstatement, Cuenco said he will retire from politics after his term ends on June 30, saying he had enough of politics since he was dismissed from service.

In October 2017, the Office of the Ombudsman dismissed Cuenco over serious dishonesty and grave misconduct over his involvement on the alleged misuse of the P3.3 million Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) allocation of his father, former Cebu City south district congressman Antonio Cuenco.

With the younger Cuenco’s dismissal, President Rodrigo Duterte appointed Erik Miguel Espina as a replacement.

In October 2018, the Court of Appeals has reversed the decision of the anti-graft office and directed DILG to reinstate Cuenco.

Acting DILG Cebu City Director Emma Joyevelyn Calvo said her office received the reinstatement order of Cuenco from the regional office yesterday.

Another memorandum addressed to Espina was delivered at the City Hall yesterday.

In the memorandum dated January 3, DILG-7 Director Leocadio Trovela said Espina will “cease to exercise the powers and perform the duties and functions of a Sanggunian Panlungsod Member.”

Sought for comment, Espina said the reinstatement of Cuenco was expected when the CA reversed the decision of the anti-graft office.

“As a party man, without actively seeking the position, I gave obeisance to the appointment, fully cognizant I was simply a ‘bench warmer’ (panakip butas) subject to a covenant to vacate the incumbent post ASAP (as soon as possible) once a legal order was provisioned,” Espina said in a text message to The FREEMAN.

Espina said he voluntarily resigned just to expedite the process, adding that he had no regret with the five months of service as one of the legislators of the city. (FREEMAN)