CEBU CITY – He is out of public office but legal issues continued to hound him.

Former Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama has been found guilty by the Office of the Ombudsman of oppression or grave abuse of authority for what the anti-graft court described as “cruel and excessive” reassignment of four city employees.

Also found guilty of the same offense was City Assessor Maria Theresa Rosell.

The Ombudsman’s Special Panel of Investigators ruled that Rama and Rosell went beyond their powers when they transferred regular employees from the City Assessor’s Office to other posts “without valid grounds.”

City Assessor’s Office employees Filomena Atuel, Maria Almicar Diongzon, Sybil Ann Ybañez, and Chito dela Cerna filed the case against Rama and other city officials on Feb. 23, 2024.

They accused Rama and Rosell of grave misconduct, oppression, and abuse of authority for their reassignment in mid-2023, which the Civil Service Commission (CSC) Regional Office VII declared “invalid and without legal effect.”

According to the Ombudsman, the employees were “removed from payroll, denied salaries and benefits, and subjected to surveillance” while being given no definite duties.

“The circumstances of being dropped from the list of employees for payroll, withholding of salaries and other benefits, and being made to sit at the office without work are indicia of an invalid reassignment — a far cry from being regular and made in the exigency of public service,” the Ombudsman said.

In a 28-page decision dated Sept. 1, 2025 decision, Rama and Rosell were each meted a one-year suspension — the maximum penalty for the offense.

Since he is no longer in office after he was previously dismissed over another case and failing in his mayoral bid last elections, Rama’s penalty will instead be converted into a fine equivalent to six months’ salary, payable to the Ombudsman.

Six other officials, including former City Administrator Collin Rosell, Assistant Department Heads Francis May Jacaban and Angelique Cabugao, Administrative Division Head Jay-Ar Pescante, Records Head Lester Joey Beniga, and Computer Division Head Nelyn Sanrojo, were cleared for lack of substantial evidence.