Rama’s suspension and why did the Ombudsman order it?

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama during his speech at the prayer rally on Sunday, February 25. Screengrab/SMNI Facebook live

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama may not be able to report to his office at City Hall any time soon.

The reason for this was that the Ombudsman’s Office imposed a six-month preventative ban on the city’s manager, along with seven other city hall officials, because his administration had not paid salaries to several employees for months.

The other defendants in the case are attorneys Collin Rossell, Maria Theresa Rossell, Francis May Jacaban, Angelique Cabugao, Jay-Ar Pescante, Lester Joey Beniga and Nelyn Sanrojo.

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If Rama’s suspension order comes into effect in May this year, it will mean that Rama will no longer be allowed to serve as mayor of the city until October. This is also the day to file the certificate of candidacy for the upcoming 2025 midterm elections.

But how did the state anti-corruption investigation agency come to such a decision? And what happens when the Rama suspension order is served?

reasons

On May 2, the Ombudsman made his decision on the administrative case filed last April by four City Hall employees – Filomena Atuel, Maria Almicar Dionggzon, Sybil Ann Ybañez and Chito Dela Cerna – against Rama and some officials.

In an eight-page resolution, Ombudsman Samuel Martires said they had found sufficient grounds to pre-emptively suspend Rama and several City Hall executives for, among other things, committing serious misconduct and unbecoming behavior toward a public official and prejudicial to the welfare of others.

According to Martires, there is “strong evidence” that proves the guilt of the defendants and the charges against them.

The case

Atuel, Diongzon, Ybañez and Dela Cerna asked the Ombudsman for assistance because the city government had not paid their salaries for ten months.

This was due to the city government’s decision to assign them new roles, which the complainants described as acts of oppression and discrimination.

Based on the Ombudsman’s findings, here is a chronological account of the beginnings.

Last May, Atuel, Diongzon, Ybañez and Dela Cerna, all of whom had worked as tax cartographers in the City Assessors Office for decades, were reassigned to other departments in the city government.

Atuel’s new assignment was in the city’s anti-begging office; Diongzon at South Road Properties Management Office; Ybañez in Operation Second Chance; and Dela Cerna from the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO).

However, according to the complainants, the move was not feasible because the new tasks did not match their expertise. They already had supervisory roles in the City Assessors Office.

Atuel, Diongzon, Ybañez and Dela Cerna said they faced discrimination in their new roles, such as being given menial tasks and not being provided new equipment and office tools.

Then in June 2023, the four former tax mappers appealed to the Civil Service Commission on the grounds that they had been “constructively dismissed from service.”

While their request for reconsideration is being processed, they returned to their original positions at the City Assessors Office.

However, things didn’t work out for the former tax mappers. They were unable to receive their salaries and social benefits from July 2023 despite starting their duties.

In addition, they told the Ombudsman that they had suffered “emotional and medical anguish” from oppressive treatment by City Hall officials, particularly the respondents they named in their case, including Rama.

Unpaid salaries

However, when the CSC released its ruling in favor of the four tax mappers in October 2023, the City Assessors Office filed motions for reconsideration, which essentially meant they wanted their former members to stay in their new jobs.

At that point, the employees had not been paid for six months, prompting them to seek help from other agencies such as the Legislature and the mayor himself.

They asked Rama and Councilman Nestor Archival for assistance. The latter then issued a resolution addressed to the former, demanding the release of their wages and benefits for “humanitarian purposes.”

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Despite these developments and with the coordination of the City’s Human Resources and Development Office (HRDO), the complainants were still unable to receive their salaries.

The situation became even more confusing when they received a designation order directing them to contact attorney Collin Rosell, the city manager in the city manager’s office, directly.

Rosell assured them that their salaries were being processed. But unlike before, that didn’t happen, the complainants said.

In May of this year, ten months after the reassignment, Atuel, Diongzon, Ybañez and Dela Cerna finally took the matter to the Ombudsman.

aftermath

Rama, meanwhile, has yet to comment further on the Ombudsman’s decision to pre-emptively suspend him and seven other City Hall officials without pay, saying he has not yet received a copy of the order.

However, city hall sources told local media that the city’s legal department has begun seeking legal remedies to reverse the suspension.

The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), on the other hand, has not yet enforced the order against Rama either.

But once they did, Cebu City Vice Mayor Raymund Alvin Garcia would take the helm. / with reports from Niña Mae Oliverio, Pia Piquero

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