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Baguio mayor mails appeal

BAGUIO CITY (July 10) — Mailed at the Baguio City Post Office, registered as # 000210, at 10:45 A.M. today was a very important document to the Office of the President. It was the Motion for Reconsideration (MFR) of Mayor Braulio D. Yaranon of a June 26 decision suspending him for two six-month terms for grave misconduct and abuse of authority and oppression, arising from a case filed against him by Jadewell Parking Systems, Inc.

Appearing unperturbed, Yaranon faced the media in his office at around 11:00 A.M. today. He said he was asking the Office of the President, represented in the decision by

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, to reconsider and set aside the decision and dismiss all complaints for lack of merit.

Yaranon continues to hold office as the decision is not yet final until the decision on his appeal would be issued with finality. He said he is willing to leave Baguio if he loses the case against Jadewell, provided if he wins, his detractors should pack up and leave.

Legal luminaries in city hall explained to the media that Yaranon had 10 days to file his MFR and the Office of the President has 30 days to deny or accept the motion.

City Councilor Jose Mencio Molintas, himself a lawyer, said the decision was not for a preventive suspension, therefore, not executory. “It will take us years for that to happen,” Molintas opined on the impending ascension of Vice-Mayor Peter Rey Bautista and Councilor Leandro Yangot when Yaranon leaves the mayoralty seat.

Molintas said Yaranon can still go to the Supreme Court once the Office of the President denies his MFR. “He could still exhaust administrative remedies and stay in office,” he said.

Yaranon said he is still mayor of Baguio City, during the induction of the new set of officers of the Baguio Filipino-Cantonese Association on Sunday night.

Yaranon finds his confidence in the provisions of the Local Government Code and the 1987 Constitution.

“How can we be doubtful if the law is on our side?” he told media. He adds, “I would be charged of dereliction of duty if I left the Mayor’s Office now.” Dereliction of duty is the non-performance of an official of his legal duty or authority as mandated by law for him to perform.

The June 26 administrative decision suspending Yaranon was mailed to the City Mayor’s Office and was received on July 5. Post Office stamps indicate that it reached the city hall on July 4, the day when Yaranon graced the Fil-American Friendship Day celebrations at the US Embassy in Manila. # Lyn V. Ramo for NORDIS

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