Pasay vice mayor returns to City Hall

Suspended Pasay City Vice Mayor Antonino Calixto returned to office yesterday, hours after the Court of Appeals issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) that lifted the suspension slapped on him by the Office of the Ombudsman last month.

Calixto, Mayor Wenceslao "Peewee" Trinidad and 10 councilors were on Aug. 25 for allegedly approving illegal garbage collection and disposal contracts worth P464.6 million.

Councilors Allan Panaligan and Arvin Tolentino were sworn in by the Department of Interior and Local Government as mayor and vice mayor, respectively after the serving of the susepnsion order.

Calixto said he came back to City Hall to once again serve his constituents.

"However, I will first send the DILG a letter so that my re-installment as vice mayor is formalized," he said.

Asked if he would take over from the acting mayor, Calixto said there is a process that needs to be followed.

"What is important right now is to deliver effective public service," he said.

More than a hundred supporters of Calixto gathered at the City Hall hours after the CA came out with a TRO.

Meanwhile, Panaligan said Calixto’s return to City Hall as vice mayor is unofficial since the DILG has not yet acted to implement the same.

"There is a procedure here which should be observed," he said.

Panaligan pointed out that there is a standing order from Malacañang that Calixto be suspended for 60 days pending an investigation on the charges filed against him.

Calixto is charged with grave abuse of authority and dereliction of duty upon complaint of Panaligan, Tolentino and Councilors Marlon Pesebre and Jonathan Cabrera.

"Upon careful examination of charges including the pleadings submitted, it appears that the same are serious in nature and the evidence of his guilt is strong that there is a need to suspend him preventively as a precautionary measure since there is a great probability that he could influence the witnesses and could pose threat to the safety and integrity of the records and evidence against him," stated an order signed by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita.