Tagbilaran Mayor Dan Lim yesterday said he felt vindicated by the Ombudsman resolution dismissing the harassment case filed against him by Zoilo Dejaresco III and the Bohol Chronicle. At the same time, the mayor said he was sad because it came at a time when former treasurer Visitacion Acero, his co-respondent in the case, is no longer around to see it. “It is a mixed feeling but we have to count our blessings,” the mayor declared. Lim said all along he knew the harassment case had no ground to stand on but had no choice except to endure it. “While the case was pending, we had to endure all the vicious attack and the worst from those who think they have a license to malign public officials,” he added.

The mayor said he felt particularly bad for Acero who died with a heavy heart owing to the non-stop attacks on her person from the Bohol Chronicle and DYRD. “If you look at it, Vising Acero was never accused of stealing from the coffers of the government, was never known to take advantage of her subordinates, never took advantage of her position but she was not spared of the malicious attacks,” he added. The mayor said that while other people amassed millions from business ventures that received preferential treatment from people in government, Acero returned humbly to private life after her stint as city treasurer.

“The only sin which she committed was sending a letter to Bingo Dejaresco who thinks he is untouchable and above the law,” Lim added. The mayor said that stripped of the self-righteous and self-glorifying language of the complaint, it failed to prove that there was abuse of discretion on the part of the respondent. “There was no evidence to prove that we acted in bad faith and that it resulted in gross disadvantage or that somebody benefited from it,” he added. The mayor said that if ever there was harassment, it was the other way around because it was Dejaresco who had been filing complaints and cases in different venues and both officially and unofficially. At the same time, Lim also dismissed Dejaresco's complaint that the allegations of non-payment of business taxes prior to 2004 and notice of investigation for unrealistic gross receipts resulted in “reputational injury”. “Look who's talking? We are the ones who have been maligned by people who believe they can attack merely on the basis of their own allegations but they do not want us to avail of the same freedom of expression,” the mayor added.

Lim said he is now consolidating all documents relative to the case and to the smear job done on him and his subordinates to determine his next step. The mayor added that he does not rule out taking legal action to seek redress for the “indiscriminate, irresponsible and malicious” attacks that definitely went out of bounds. “Everybody including public officials has a right to seek redress for grievances for crimes committed against their person,” he noted. Lim said that while Dejaresco and the Bohol Chronicle had long dared him to file charges, he is not in a hurry to do so “because I don't want to file cases for the sake of it”. The mayor, a lawyer, said that he will only do so when there is sufficient evidence to do so and only if there is a high probability of conviction. “Some people who refuse to learn should be taught a lesson about respect for the law,” he concluded.

Chronicle's reply

Ombudsman

flaws reviewed

The Bohol Chronicle will undertake proper legal steps after it observed serious discretional flaws committed by the office of the Ombudsman when it dis-missed the complaint against city mayor Dan Lim for harassing the media company. It can be recalled that the late city treasurer Visitacion Acero, acting on orders by the city mayor, condemned the media company by accusing it of not paying taxes in 2003 and prior years. Acero was instead found administratively liable by the Department of Finance when it was established that taxes were indeed paid by the Chronicle. The Chronicle pursued its grievances of harassment by filing a criminal complaint against the late city treasurer before she passed away, and the city mayor, with the office of the Ombudsman for causing undue injury against a taxpayer. The Chronicle management said, as a taxpayer will assert its rights under the law against official harassment by abusive officials.

The city mayor began harassing the media company in late 2008 after he was criticized for official inaction. To get back at the media company, the following year, the mayor accused the Chronicle of not paying taxes and not paying the correct taxes. However, the mayor contradicted himself as he was consistently issuing the Chronicle mayor's permit every year since he assumed office. A copy of the mayor's permit is printed elsewhere in this issue. The Chronicle has welcomed the tax investigation by the mayor, as it intends to call and make the mayor a hostile witness in legal proceedings for him to substantiate in detail his accusations against the Chronicle that it has not been paying local taxes. The Chronicle also intends to call as witnesses past city officials to verify whether indeed the Chronicle was operating without paying taxes. The city government has refused to receive tax payments of the Chronicle, prompting the latter to consign its tax obligations in court. Until the present, the Chronicle has not been issued any tax assessment by the city government as required by law. Under the law, the local government can only assess a taxpayer within five years from the time the tax became due.