Mayor Eulogio Borres and the detective of the Cebu City police department

Engineer Eulogio Enriquez Borres, a graduate of the University of the Philippines, became acting mayor of Cebu City when Mayor Sergio "Serging" Chiong Veloso Jr. vacated his office to seek for a national position in 1968.

Acting Mayor Borres received complaints that Severino Parages, a detective in the Cebu City police department, who held such a position in a permanent capacity being a civil service eligible. Parages was assigned to the Homicide and General Investigation Section of the Investigation Branch.

On November 14, 1968, then Borres in response to the verbal complaints against Parages that the latter has been doing something wrong against Chinese businessmen in Cebu and that his performance was not satisfactory, Borres issued a memorandum ordering the detail of Parages to his office.

On November 21, 1968, after the detail order was endorsed by the chief of police, the detective was served with a copy but he refused to receive it and to comply with the order of the mayor. The detective informed Mayor Borres that he was declining the detail order because the order was illegal and that he continued reporting to his office at the police department.

Detective Parages challenged the memorandum of Mayor Borres by going to the court and filed a Petition for Prohibition and Injunction with the Court of First Instance of Cebu on November 7, 1968.

The case was raffled to the sala of Judge Mateo Canonoy (admitted to the Bar on December 27, 1929), presiding judge of the CFI, Branch III, the latter did not grant the prayer of the detective for the issuance of a writ of preliminary investigation. Judge Canonoy decided to hear the evidence before taking any action.   While the case before the court was pending, Mayor Borres charged the detective with insubordination and neglect of duty for his refusal to report to his office. The case against the detective was lodged in the Police Commission through the City Board of Investigators. Mayor Borres also ordered the suspension of Detective Parages.

On February 4, 1969, Judge Canonoy after the trial on the merits rendered a decision declaring that the detail order issued by Mayor Borres as illegal. The decision reads that the detail order was contrary to the Revised Charter of Cebu City and violation of the constitutional protection of security of tenure.

Judge Canonoy also said that the suspension of Detective Parages was illegal and ordered his immediate reinstatement. On March 3, 1969, the motion for reconsideration of Mayor Borres was denied and that Judge Canonoy granted the immediate execution of his judgment pending appeal.

Acting Mayor Borres appealed the ruling of Judge Canonoy to the Supreme Court arguing that as mayor he has the power over all personnel of the city, including the Cebu Police Department (at that time, police were recruited, hired and paid by the local government units).

The Supreme Court on October 23, 1981 (13 years after) reversed the ruling of the Court of First Instance, setting aside the decision dated February 9, 1969 and declared that the order of Mayor Borres as legal and with full force and effect.

Mayor Borres was represented by lawyers Metudio P. Belarmino (of Tudela, Cebu, he became a lawyer on January 19, 1954) and Celerino F. Jomuad (of Ginatilan, Cebu, he was admitted to the Bar on May 2, 1947). The police detective was assisted by the lawyer from Colawin, Argao who years later became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The name of the young lawyer then is Hilario Gelbolingo Davide, a graduate of the University of the Philippines College of Law Batch 1959. He formally signed his Roll of Attorney on March 3, 1960.

Mayor Eulogio Enriquez Borres was born on March 11, 1917, a Civil Engineer and entered public service when he ran as Cebu City councilor in 1947. Rolando Enriquez Yebes, a nephew of Borres of Dipolog, Zamboanga del Norte came to study at the University of San Jose Recoletos, main campus in Cebu City in the College of Law became a lawyer on May 4, 1977 rose to become District Collector of the Port of Cebu and after retiring was elected for three terms as governor of Zamboanga Del Norte.