Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama is indeed suspended as the Court of Appeals (CA) in Manila dismissed the petition he filed and seven other city officials to restrain the implementation of the six-month suspension order by the Ombudsman.

The CA in its decision dated 17 May 2024 dismissed the petition for failure to allege meritorious grounds in the petition as to why alternative legal remedies were not pursued before filing the current petition.

Secondly, the original transcript transaction receipts from the private courier, serving as proof of mailing of the petition, were not appended in the petition.

And finally, the assailed Office of the Ombudsman order attached in the petition was found to be a mere photocopy.

Rama and seven others were suspended due to his administration’s failure to pay four regular employees their salaries for 10 months.