Sandiganbayan case may affect JDR’s election plans

The plans of former Talisay City mayor Johnny delos Reyes to run again next year may face some hitches.

A Talisay City official said that de los Reyes’ plan to run for city mayor in 2019 could face some problems especially that he still has an ongoing criminal case before the Sandiganbayan.

Dr. Richel Bacaltos, president of the Talisay City College, said the complaint he filed before the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas against de los Reyes has been elevated before the Sandiganbayan.

In 2015, Bacaltos, then acting TCC president, filed a complaint against de los Reyes after he issued an executive order replacing him with former Mandaue City College (MCC) president Paulus Mariae Cañete as school president without securing authority from the TCC’s Board of Trustees.

The next year, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales ordered the filing of a case against delos Reyes for falsification of public documents. The anti-graft office ordered de los Reyes to be suspended for three months.

But delos Reyes was saved from suspension when the decision came just a few months after the 2016 national and local elections, in which he failed to get reelected.

Bacaltos told SunStar Cebu that even though delos Reyes was not suspended, he could face criminal charges before the Sandiganbayan.

He said with delos Reyes running again for city mayor, the case against him will continue as it is now the State that is prosecuting the former mayor.

Bacaltos said that as of last month, the Sandiganbayan started hearing testimonies of both sides.

While he was reinstated as TCC president during the start of the first term of Talisay City Mayor Eduardo Gullas, Bacaltos said he still continues to cooperate with the Sandiganbayan on de los Reyes’ case.

“He committed a criminal offense, he must answer it in court,” Bacaltos said.

SunStar Cebu tried calling delos Reyes in his cellular phone but all calls and texts to remained unanswered yesterday.

In 2015, Dr. Richel Bacaltos, then acting TCC president, filed a complaint against de los Reyes after he issued an executive order replacing him with former Mandaue City College (MCC) president Paulus Mariae Cañete as school president without securing authority from the TCC’s Board of Trustees.