ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Visayas devider 2 lawyers from Mandaue post bail over graft cases

2 lawyers from Mandaue post bail over graft cases

Published Jul 14, 2026 09:32 pm
CEBU CITY – Two lawyers posted bail in connection with criminal and administrative charges arising from an alleged illegal demolition and trespassing incident in a disputed property in Barangay Paknaan, Mandaue City.
Julius Caesar S. Entise, former assistant city assessor of Mandaue City, and Johnbee R. Biton, former head of the city’s Housing and Urban Development Office, posted bail in relation to the charges filed against them for alleged violation of Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
The charges stemmed from the complaint filed by Priscila Melendres and Maritoni Melendres before the Office of the Ombudsman.
The Melendreses asked the anti-graft court to investigate the two lawyers and other City Hall personnel for alleged illegal demolition and unauthorized fencing that restricted access to a private property that they claimed ownership of in May 2023.
“I welcome the progress of the case. This should serve as a warning to those in authority not to abuse their power," Priscila said on Tuesday, July 14.
The charges were filed before Branch 59 of the Regional Trial Court in San Carlos City, Negros Oriental.
Other respondents in the case were Teodorico Montojo II, Pedrito Inalem, Cesar Ylanan, Jayson Sebial, Gilbert Plarisan, Michael Bontia, Felix Arroto, Albert Legarte, Jayme Daymiel, Renato Solis Nazara, Ricky Amad, Leonardo Nares, Dave Dungog, Clarence Cuizon, Almer Capalac, Marc Cabahug. Marlon Manatad, Lune Maravilla, Rex Cabrillas, Raven Addyson Pable, Arnold Ardou, Jonas Karl, Ceniza, Norman Cabahug, and a certain Vin.
In an interview, Entise said he and Biton posted bail of P30,000 each before the RTC, 7th Judicial Region, Branch 89 in Mandaue City.
“We immediately filed a motion to post bail so we would not be inconvenienced because we knew that it would be filed outside Region 7,” said Entise.
Entise disclosed that he and Biton filed motions to dismiss for lack of probable cause.
Entise said they also questioned the filing of the case in San Carlos City that prompted them to file a motion to quash.
“After we posted bail, we filed a motion to quash because for us, the jurisdiction should be in Mandaue and not outside Region 7. The Republic Act 10660 does not apply in this case,” said Entise.
Entice said the arraignment was supposed to take place last June 18 but it was postponed after the court asked the Ombudsman to comment on the motions that they have filed.

Related Tags

Mandaue City RA 3019 Priscilla Melendres Graft
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ static_articles_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.