CA reverses the 2015 decision
TACLOBAN CITY – A town mayor in Northern Samar was reinstated after he was earlier ordered dismiss from his post by the Office of Ombudsman for allegedly falsifying a public document.
Mayor Manuel Aoyang’s return to his position was by virtue of an order issued by the Court of Appeals (CA), reversing an earlier decision of the Ombudsman in 2015.
The CA, however, said that the anti-graft court failed to establish the guilt of Aoyang, reason that the administrative and grave misconduct complaint against him should be dismissed.
Aoyang, who is seeking for a posible third term in this year’s elections, welcome the decision of CA.
“I was a victim of bad politics and the slow resolution of cases in court, but still I am happy,”the mayor, reached on his phone, said.
To recall, the Ombudsman dismissed Aoyang from his post after he was found guilty of tampering a resolution titled ‘“A Resolution Approving the List of Anti-Poverty Reduction Projects in the Municipality of Palapag, Northern Samar” and reportedly forging the signatures of Councilors Sonia Evardone and Anacorito Javier to make it appear that they were present during a special session on Feb.17,2015.
Both claimed that they were not around and initiated in the filing of the complaint against the mayor.
“Although direct proof is essential to establish conspiracy, it must be established by positive and conclusive evidence. Proof, not mere conjectures or assumptions, should be preferred to indicate that the accused had taken part in it. Mere allegation and speculation is not evidence and is not equivalent to proof,” the CA said on its decision.
Aoyang formally return to his post on Thursday (April 4) when he took his oath before provincial local operations officer Danny Laguitan.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)
