CEBU CITY – With the midterm elections just a few days away, charges were filed against city mayor Tomas Osmeña for allegedly playing poker in a wine shop last January.
Conrado Romano, a resident of Barangay Sambag Uno, Cebu City, asked the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas to hold Osmeña liable for violation of Presidential Decree 1602, grave misconduct, conduct unbecoming of a public official and neglect of duty.
In his complaint, which was filed last May 2, Romano said he saw Osmeña in three occasions playing poker with a group of men at House of Jacks in Ralph’s Wines and Spirits in Barangay Kamputhaw.
“I happened to take a photograph of Mayor Tomas Osmeña while in the act of playing gambling at said gambling joint which later I perceived that was an illegal gambling den upon reading a newspaper report,” said Romano in his complaint.
The complainant attached pictures that he took supposedly showing Osmeña gambling in the wine shop.
“I was very disappointed upon seeing Mayor Tomas Osmeña engaged in such act and after reading the newspaper it (came) to my mind that the mayor was protecting an illegal gambling den which is supposed to be his duty to stop illegal gambling in Cebu City, yet, he is the one patronizing such illegal act,” said Romano.
Osmeña, who is seeking reelection in the May 13 elections, just shrugged off the accusations against him.
During the grand rally of the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BOPOK) last Sunday at the Cebu City Sports Center, Osmeña said he is used to facing accusations made up by his opponents.
In a Facebook post, Osmeña insinuated that Cebu City Police Director Royina Garma and Vice Mayor Labella had a hand in the filing of charges against him.
“Garma and Liebella (referring to Labella), please file your cases already so I can answer them. Now you’re saying “there’s no CCTV recording” despite there being multiple CCTV cameras. How interesting. Stop hiding behind your puppet. File your cases please so we can get to the truth and move on to the next issue. Kapoy huwat ba (it is tiring to wait),” Osmeña said.
Osmeña turned the tables on Garma during last Sunday’s political rally.
In front of thousands of BOPK supporters, Osmeña accused Garma of receiving P1-million payola a week from illegal gambling operators when she was still the head of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Central Visayas (CIDG).
Osmeña showed documents identifying a certain “SPO4 Art” as Garma’s bagman.
Osmeña said the documents were the reports of anti-illegal gambling operations conducted by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and National Bureau of Investigation.
The documents were dated May 16, May 28, and June 6 in 2018, according to the Osmeña.
The report revealed it was the local government of Bohol which identified Garma as alleged recipient of illegal gambling payola. (Calvin Cordova)