MAYOR JOHN Henry “Sonny” R. Osmeña of Toledo City, Cebu has been ordered suspended for one year after the Ombudsman found him guilty of grave abuse of authority for his “consistent and undue refusal to release the quarterly real property tax (RPT) shares of Barangay Daanlungsod.” The 81-year-old former senator and congressman will also be facing trial before the Sandiganbayan after the Ombudsman found probable cause to charge him with six counts of violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, or Republic Act No. 3019. In his counter-affidavit, Mr. Osmeña defended that the funds could not be released to the village because of a pending boundary dispute between Barangays Sangi and Daanlungsod as well as a pending case between Sangi versus the Toledo City government. However, in a resolution approved last Aug. 9, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales said that “the boundary dispute between the two barangays had long been settled.”
