Metro mayors seek review of decision vs Peewee

Metro Manila’s local chief executives rallying behind Pasay City Mayor Wenceslao "Peewee" Trinidad are asking the Office of the Ombudsman to review its decision to suspend him, his vice mayor, and 10 councilors.

In a joint statement distributed by Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay yesterday, other mayors expressed concern that due process was not observed.

"It appears that the suspension order was hastily issued solely on the basis of mere allegations made by the complainant, without the benefit of verification and without, according Mayor Trinidad and other officials, the opportunity to clarify or refute the allegation," they said.

Among those who signed the statement were Mayors Feliciano Belmonte Jr. of Quezon City, Lito Atienza of Manila, Vicente Eusebio of Pasig, Jaime Fresnedi of Muntinlupa, Rosendo Capco of Pateros and Binay.

Those who expressed intent to sign the statement included Mayors Freddie Tinga of Taguig, Joseph Victor Ejercito of San Juan and Tito Oreta of Malabon.

While they respect the authority of the Ombudsman, the mayors said such authority comes with a greater responsibility to be thorough and fair, and to accord all parties concerned the right to due process.

According to them, the Ombudsman should be meticulous and thorough in investigating allegations leveled against public officials, especially elected ones who owe their mandate to the public.

"Failure to do this would make all public officials, again especially the elected ones, vulnerable to harassment cases from groups and individuals with various political agenda" the local chief executives said.

Binay, for his part, questioned how the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) served the suspension order with apparent haste considering that Trinidad and the other officials had sought the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) from the Court of Appeals (CA).

He said the DILG should have given Trinidad the same treatment accorded to Cavite Gov. Ayong Maliksi when the Office of Ombudsman issued a suspension order against him.

"Gov. Maliksi was not forced out of his office. Instead, the DILG waited for the result of the case he filed before the court acted," Binay pointed out.

Trinidad asked the CA yesterday to immediately resolve his petition for a TRO.

In an 11-page petition, the suspended mayor said the appointment of Panaligan "clearly disregarded the mandate of the people and has agitated people from both camps, resulting in chaos."

"In order to prevent further escalation of violence among the political followers of contending parties, there is an urgent need to maintain the status quo prevailing prior to the filing of the instant petition," Trinidad said.

The mayor said there was no strong evidence against him and his co-accused to warrant their suspension.– With Jose Rodel Clapano