Yapha, lawyer sued over appointment issue

CEBU, Philippines — Acting Toledo Mayor Antonio Yapha and lawyer Teresito Largo are facing charges before the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas for Teresito’s appointment as city legal officer allegedly without concurrence of the City Council.

Acting Vice mayor Marjorie Perales and 10 councilors said Yapha and Largo committed, among others, gross ignorance of the law, grave misconduct, grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction, and violation of the 2017 omnibus rules on appointments of the Civil Service Commission Circular.

“It may be gleaned that three requirements are necessary for an appointment to the position of city legal officer to be complete: the possession of all the qualifications enumerated by the law, the appointment by the mayor, and the concurrence by the Sangguniang Panlungsod. Lacking even one of these three immediately invalidates an appointment-no matter how entitled one believes himself to be,” the complaint reads.

The councilors who signed the complaint are Jay Sigue, Antonio Borja, Jr., Merly Abad, Rogelio Caburnay, Sr., Zosimo Abellanosa, Dario Surig, Leo Dolino, Arlene Zambo, Caesar Ian Geronimo Zambo, and Louis Nicholas Espinosa.

The officials asked the Ombudsman to suspend Yapha and Largo preventively pending investigation and, if warranted, file civil, criminal, and administrative cases against them.

They also asked that Yapha be dismissed from service and Largo be removed from the city legal office.

“Not only that, such usurpation was done with the support, and even with the encouragement and approval, on record, of respondent Yapha,” the complaint reads.

“This time has come for reckoning. Mayor Yapha has committed patently illegal acts without the authority of the City Council,” said the complainants’ lawyer, Inocencio dela Cerna.

In a separate complaint Largo filed against the councilors in February, the lawyer said the Council committed oppression, grave misconduct, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service, and abuse of authority for not approving his appointment.

He said the Council’s resolution against his appointment is without legal basis because he is qualified for the position.

“It is undisputed that complainant possesses all the qualifications and none of the disqualification when they refused to confirm or concur his appointment as City Legal Officer and in the process continually defies with impunity and proved unfaithful to their duties and responsibilities as elected officials of Toledo City,” he said in his complaint. — /JMO  (FREEMAN)