Leonardia: We have valid reasons to be hopeful

By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia released a statement yesterday expressing his hope the Sandiganbayan, which is hearing criminal proceedings regarding the P50 million purchase of furniture and fixtures for the Bacolod City Government Center in 2008, will render a decision in his favor.

“We are very hopeful that the [Sandiganbayan] will see this case as the [Court of Appeals] also saw it,” he said in the statement. “We have valid reasons to be hopeful.”

He cited the most recent court decision, signed by Associate Justice Germano Francisco D. Legaspi, Associate Justice Marilyn B. Lagura-Yap, and Executive Justice Gabriel T. Ingles of the 18th Division of the Court of Appeals-Cebu, that stated, “We reject the findings of the Office of the Ombudsman relative to the petitioner’s liability for grave misconduct and gross neglect of duty.”

He also said the Office of the Ombudsman filed a motion for reconsideration before the Court of Appeals, which the mayor noted, “The facts of the case are exactly the same for both the administrative and criminal cases.”

With regard to the decision overturning the Ombudsman decision, former Negros Occidental Board Member Victor Puey earlier called into question a similar optimism, when he claimed, “It is very clear and apparent that this honorable Court of Appeals has already prejudged the case in favor of petitioner Evelio Leonardia.”

In his complaint, he pointed out a March 2, 2017 issue of a local newspaper with a headline reading, “Mayor’s camp expects preliminary injunction.”

“This only goes to show that they already expect and are sure of a favorable ruling,” Puey argued./DGB, WDJ