Quisumbing faces more charges

CEBU, Philippines — Mandaue City Mayor Gabriel Luis "Luigi" Quisumbing is facing more criminal and administrative complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas.

Engineer Andres Suson has filed a case for graft, grave misconduct, oppression, and/or violation of existing civil service law and rules of serious nature against Quisumbing and his chief of staff Mae Elaine Bathan.

In his complaint, Suson, former officer-in-charge of the Mandaue City Office of the Building Official, alleged on May 18, 2018, Quisumbing reassigned him to the Umapad Dumpsite Task Force.

Because of that, he raised the matter before the Civil Service Commission. Suson claimed the CSC approved his appointment as assistant city engineer on July 2013.

Suson said despite the pendency of the issue, Bathan and Quisumbing ordered to terminate his communication allowance.

The CSC, on August 17, 2018, ordered Quisumbing to stop the implementation of his order reassigning Suson to the Umapad Dumpsite Task Force and return him to his original position at the City Engineer's Office.

"Mayor Quisumbing has stubbornly refused to comply with the legal directives," the complaint read.

Suson also sought the preventive suspension of Quisumbing pending investigation.

Bathan said she was not aware any new case had been filed against the mayor.

“I am not aware of any case filed against me and mayor by Mr. Andres Suson a former Barangay Captain and a die-hard supporter of Congressman Cortes who has kept himself busy sleeping on the job and attacking the mayor in all forums and disparaging the administration instead of making himself useful to the city. If indeed a case was filed then this is nothing but a tapestry of their concerted acts to harass and discredit the mayor. But what is good about this whole process is that it will reveal how benighted and ignorant one is for filing such baseless cases,” she said.

Quisumbing was recently sued before the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas over his alleged refusal to restore a former city department head to his original position at the Human Resource Management Office. —Mylen P. Many/BRP (FREEMAN)