By Herbie Gomez
BEFORE the interior department sent its letter stating its position on last week’s standoff at city hall, the peddler who regularly brings me copies of the “CBCP Monitor” asked if I could make him understand what was really going on in the city’s corridors of power.
I paused for a moment in order to think how to make him understand what was happening and make sense of all the legal mumbo jumbo. And then I explained to him using this analogy in plain layman’s language:
Court of Appeals (CA) orders: “No one touches the lady, do not impregnate!”
Vice Mayor Caesar Acenas’s lawyers responded: “Sorry, CA, she’s pregnant already.” (That means you cannot stop one from getting pregnant if she’s already pregnant.)
But then Mayor Oscar Moreno’s lawyers retorted: “That cannot be. He’s impotent.”
Needless to say, that was an analogy and not, in any way, intended to be taken literally. But it worked. There and then, the vendor got it, allowing me to go back to what I was doing instead of spending more time in explaining to him what the city was going through.
Apparently, the “impotence” argument crossed the minds of the three associate justices, and was considered when they signed the 60-day temporary restraining order (TRO) two Fridays ago or a day after Acenas asserted that there was a vacancy in the Office of the City Mayor that obliged him to take over. The CA resolution on Wednesday made it very clear that when the court issued the TRO, it ordered a status quo.
The problem was, the officials of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) did what they did only for compliance purposes, apparently, and under tremendous pressure because they were threatened that they would be brought to court for dereliction of duty. As a result, they left the half-baked cake out in the rain instead of delivering it directly to the mayor’s office where Moreno held out. One of the arguments was, since the dismissal order was not served or was improperly served, then there was no vacancy to speak of, and since there was no vacancy, the situation did not warrant an automatic succession.
There is something about the practice of law and the interpretation of court decisions that have not been or could not be humanized. I mean, the case of an erring driver who illegally parked his car can drag on if his lawyer asserts that there was no violation because the traffic sign clearly reads “No Parking on Both Sides” — his client parked on only one side of the road, stupid! I’m not sure if that actually happened but given the kind of arguments that have been entertaining us, the public, I won’t be surprised if I heard that cockeyed line in court.
Our courts, the Office of the Ombudsman, the DILG, and our local governments also need to learn from the recent political crisis that gripped Cagayan de Oro. It happened before, and it would likely happen again.
First, we need court rulings that are responsive to the needs of citizens especially when public welfare and interests are at stake. The last thing the public needs are court rulings that breed all sorts of interpretations. Our courts may want to state it the way they mean it so that there wouldn’t be a need for anyone to ask for clarification.
Second, there is a need to review and harmonize rules especially on the dismissal of officials and automatic successions.
The excitement resulted in a quickie. What happened in the evening of Nov. 12 was a premature ejaculation, so to speak. Acenas and a councilor were in a hurry to swear in as mayor and vice mayor, respectively, that they didn’t give the DILG even one minute to clean, replace the dirty bedding, and sweep the used rubbers out of the motel room we call city hall. They were so eager and could not wait that they just had to hotfoot it to the room because they thought that it was already unoccupied. Surprise, surprise! It turned out that Moreno was still in the toilet, seated on a bowl.
Next time, wait for the DILG green light. Wait for the room boy to say, “OK na, Sir, puwede na.”
The DILG, and subsequently the CA, ended last week’s standoff. What the city may be experiencing now is calm before the storm. But wait till the Office of the Ombudsman resolves the motion for reconsideration filed by Moreno. In the event that the ombudsman upholds the ruling on the mayor’s dismissal, I am not sure if the TRO would still hold because that would be a different matter, I guess, and the city would likely go back to square one (although Moreno and his lawyers may see it differently). The resolution on the MR was supposed to have been made less than a week after it was filed. That means it could come out anytime soon.
This early, Interior Secretary Mel Senen Sarmiento may need to seriously consider issuing a memorandum circular to lay down clear rules and ensure smooth automatic successions, and to avoid a repeat of the Nov. 12 premature ejaculation. Or better still, if it can be done, Congress can pass a law on this. Aron dili magubot.
As for Vice Mayor Acenas, relax. This is not a marathon. There is no other Cagayan de Oro vice mayor but you. That means you are next in the automatic succession line. In case there’s a “next time,” don’t listen to those who merely see you as a pawn because they really don’t care if you lose face. Rather, wait till the room boy says, “Fire away, Mr. Quickie! Charge!”
Pastilan.
