Trinidad back today sans reinstatement

Dismissed Pasay City Mayor Wenceslao "Peewee" Trinidad plans to show up at city hall today along with his supporters even if the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) refuses to act on his appeal for reinstatement.

Trinidad said he will be waiting for a response from the DILG and that he also plans to talk to Mayor Allan Panaligan.

"If the DILG will not act on my appeal, then what will happen next will be up to the people of Pasay City. I don’t have control of things," he said.

Trinidad, in a letter, had asked Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno to reinstate him today, arguing that his dismissal for graft is "not yet final and executory."

He likewise said that the dismissal order should not be implemented because the motion for reconsideration they filed is still pending in court.

He also pointed out that the Court of Appeals last week ordered that the six-month preventive suspension order issued against him by the Office of the Ombudsman be reduced to five months. The five-month period ends today.

Trinidad together with his Vice Mayor Antonino Calixto, Councilors Richard Advincula, Lexter Ibay, Jose Antonio Roxas, Arnel Regino Arceo, Editha Vergel de Dios, Marie Irish Pineda, Onie Bayona and Greg Paolo Alcera were recently ordered dismissed by the Ombudsman for their alleged involvement in the P464.6-million illegal garbage collection and disposal contracts in 2004 to 2005.

Lawyers representing Trinidad, Calixto and the eight councilors urged the DILG to reinstate their clients, contending that the penalty of dismissal issued by the Ombudsman is not yet final.

Before the issuance of a dismissal order, Trinidad and the others were placed on a six-month preventive suspension starting Sept. 1 last year.

Trinidad and the other officials that time questioned the resolution’s haste, saying they were not given enough time to answer the complaint filed against them.