Administrative order exonerates Cebu City Mayor del Rosario
President Manuel Acuna Roxas on August 23, 1947 issued Administrative Order No. 43 exonerating Mayor del Rosario from the charges against him. There were eleven charges against Mayor del Rosario, among them were:
1. Illegally collected from June 25, 1946 to September 30, 1946, house allowance at the rate of P100.00 a month;
2. Loaned P600 to the Cebu Retailers Cooperative Inc., with the interest at 10% per month;
3. Granted a permit to hold cockfighting during days other than Sundays and Holidays;
4. That he connived with his driver, Baltazar Reyes, in treacherously and maliciously assaulting Assistant City Engineer Arvisu;
These charges were investigated by a committee specially constituted by President Roxas and composed of Assistant Solicitor General Carmelino G. Alvendia as chairman, and First Assistant City Fiscal Agustin P. Montessa of Manila and Chief Supervising Auditor Severo de Undria of the General Auditing Office, as members. After hearings conducted in the City of Cebu at which witnesses testified for and against the mayor, the committee recommended his exoneration.
These were the justification of the exoneration of del Rosario:
As to charge I (renting of a house): It was found out that the house in which he was then living belonged exclusively to his mother, and that even if the house where Mayor del Rosario lived belonged to him, he would still be entitled to said allowance in accordance with Opinion No. 35, Series of 1939, of the Secretary of Justice, citing the case of Regalado vs. Yulo, 33 O.G. 925.
Charge II (loan to Cebu Retailers Cooperative): Mr. Alfredo Cruz, President of the Cebu Retailers Cooperative, Inc. Mayor del Rosario had agreed to advance the sum of P650 for the use of said corporation for an indefinite period of not exceeding one year, with the understanding that the mayor would be given a benefit for the use of his money, although he did not even know what the benefit consisted. Even if the P65 he received were considered an interest on the principal of P650 delivered by del Rosario, the same would not be usurious because the P650, having been delivered for repayment within one year, the fact that it was paid after one or three months with full interest for one year does not constitute usury, as the Usury Law even allows a creditor to collect interest in advance for a period not exceeding one year, and if the debtor pays the obligation within a shorter period, he is not entitled to a rebate on the interest.
Charge III (cockfights other than Sundays and Holidays)
The committee found out that the only evidence presented in support of this charge is the testimony of the Chief of Police who alleged that, although he did not actually see there was a cockfight, he saw people gathered in the cockpit one day which was not Sunday or holiday. He claims to have been informed by Mr. Cepeda, president of the association which operated the cockpit, that the latter had verbal permit from Mayor del Rosario.
Charge IV (assault on Assistant Engineer Arvisu): It was found out that there was a discussion between Del Rosario and Engr. Arvisu which developed into a quarrel, and the driver of the mayor who was waiting in his jeep outside the restaurant entered and assaulted Arvisu. According to the witness, there was no preconceived plan between the mayor and his driver to fight Arvisu.
President Roxas exonerated Mayor del Rosario and ordered his reinstatement as Mayor of Cebu City. However, the administrative order, in the interest of the service, enjoined Mayor del Rosario to sever his connection as sales manager of the REPUBLIC LUMBER (del Rosario and Feliciano Larrazabal entered into a partnership with head offices in the Province of Leyte and del Rosario as sales manager for the Province of Cebu as well as for the City of Cebu) and warned against any transaction being had between the partnership and the government of the City of Cebu.
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