DILG suspends Medellin officials

CEBU, Philippines - The Department of Interior and Local Government has served Wednesday the suspension order of Medellin town officials for two months following the complaint filed against over the demolition of a constituent’s home.

The officials ordered suspended are Vice Mayor Lee RJ Villapez, Councilors Ricardo Ramirez, Juan Alfonso Lim, Joevenus Inot and Leonardo Montilla, as well as Provincial Board Member Horacio Franco.

Included in the complaint were also former Vice Mayor Juan Alfonso Lim, and former councilors Raymond Olivar, Artemio Noynay, Conrado Mangubat, Kendrick Allen Lim, and lawyer Ritche Capahi who now works at the Provincial Legal Office.

Ramirez and other respondents had earlier questioned the implementation of the order when their motion for reconsideration is not yet resolved.

DILG Provincial Director Jerome Gonzales said the implementation of the suspension order was by virtue of the Ombudsman Memorandum Circular No. 01 series of 2016 issued by Ombudsman Merceditas Navarro-Gutierrez on April 11.

“The filing of a motion for reconsideration or a petition for review before the Office of the Ombudsman does not operate to stay the immediate implementation of the foregoing Ombudsman decisions, orders or resolutions,” the memorandum states.

It also cited Section 7 Rule III of the Administrative Order No. 07, otherwise known as, the “Ombudsman Rules of Procedure” which provides that “A decision of the Office of the Ombudsman in administrative cases shall be executed as a matter of course.”

Section 7 of Rule III provides that, “where the respondent is absolved of the charge, and in case of conviction where the penalty imposed is public censure or reprimand, suspension of not more than one month, or a fine equivalent to one month salary, the decision shall be final, executory and unappealable. In all other cases, the decision may be appealed to the Court of Appeals on a verified petition for review under the requirements and conditions set forth in Rule 43 of the Rules of Court, within fifteen (15) days from receipt of the written Notice of the Decision or Order denying the Motion for Reconsideration.”

The memorandum further states that “only a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) or a Writ of Preliminary Injunction, duly issued by a court of competent jurisdiction, stays the immediate implementation of the said Ombudsman decisions, orders or resolutions.” 

“Og imo basahon Section 7 naghisgut og to be implemented diha-diha dayon but only to cases nga one month ang suspension pero lain may interpretasyon sa DILG mao nang kataw-anan kaayo,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez lamented that what saddens him was that he and his colleagues were suspended for doing their jobs and working for the good of the greater majority.

The case stemmed from the complaint filed by a certain Tirso Seares, who owns a house allegedly erected on a public road in Barangay Kawit that the mentioned officials had ordered demolished

“What I have learned from this is that there are people in our government who are in sensitive positions but interpret laws according to their narrow mindedness and even if the law is written in plain English still cannot comprehend it and wish to interpret it their way,” Ramirez said.

The remaining officials of the town would be Mayor Joven Mondigo Jr., and councilor Vincent Suan who will become acting vice mayor, while the remaining councilors will be Jose Yurag, Roberto Orbiso, Agnes Yaun and Rene Olivar, the president of Association of Barangay Councils. (FREEMAN)