IN FEBRUARY 2014, Timotea L. Kakizaki sought the assistance of Taguig City Legal Officer Gary Palmero to have her marriage with her Japanese husband annulled so she could get married to another Japanese.
Palmero allegedly referred her to his law partner, Norberto Alensuela who, she said, charged her P400,000 for the annulment.
After the annulment, Alensuela reportedly charged her an additional P25,000 for her marriage to her Japanese boyfriend.
Timotea found out later that the annulment and her second marriage were fake.
Alensuela鈥檚 name doesn鈥檛 appear on the roll of attorneys at the Office of the Bar Confidant of the Supreme Court.
Timotea learned about the bogus annulment and marriage and the fake lawyer when she checked with the National Statistics Office and the Supreme Court.
It seems that Palmero, a high official of Taguig, committed fraud right under the very nose of Mayor Lani Cayetano.
When my staff for 鈥淚sumbong mo kay Tulfo鈥� called up the mayor鈥檚 office, I was told that she was not available for an interview.
I wanted to complain to her on behalf of Timotea about Palermo鈥檚 alleged misbehavior, but I was referred to the city鈥檚 public information office.
It seems that the mayor refuses interviews with media.
The newsroom at the radio station where I鈥檓 a commentator, DWIZ, doesn鈥檛 have her phone number unlike other mayors of Metro Manila.
Other Metro Manila mayors, especially Manila鈥檚 Joseph 鈥淓rap鈥� Estrada, are always available for interviews.
Mayor Cayetano should be reminded that she is a public servant no matter how important she thinks she is.
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The arrogance of power exhibited by the Taguig mayor was exposed when members of the Sangguniang Panglungsod or city council filed a case against her for padlocking their session hall in 2010 on an alleged whim.
The case, which was filed by the Office of the Ombudsman, will soon be heard by the Sandiganbayan.
Ombudsman Conchita-Carpio Morales didn鈥檛 buy Cayetano鈥檚 reason that the closure was part of a 鈥渞eengineering and reorganizational plan.鈥�
She鈥檚 only a mayor but already, she acts like a tyrant.
You can imagine how she would act if she is elected to a higher office like her husband, Alan Peter, sister-in-law, Pia, and brother-in-law, Lino.