Palace upholds Baguio mayor’s suspension

BAGUIO CITY — It’s final! Malacañang has affirmed its July 26 order suspending Baguio City Mayor Braulio Yaranon for one year.

In an Aug. 22 ruling, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, acting on behalf of the Office of the President, denied Yaranon’s motion for reconsideration on the earlier order suspending him for grave misconduct and abuse of authority, among other administrative offenses.

Yaranon’s suspension stemmed from the complaint filed against him by Jadewell Parking Systems Corp., a private parking operator here.

Ermita said Yaranon’s appeal lacked merit and presented no new arguments as to why he should not be placed under one-year suspension.

He said Yaranon should have been suspended even pending his appeal. He directed the local office of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to implement the suspension order soonest.

Yaranon could not be reached for comment as of press time. But a local radio station quoted his wife, former city councilor Lilia Yaranon, as saying they had not received yet a formal copy of the final resolution of the Office of the President.

In appealing his suspension, Yaranon, a former regional trial court judge and city councilor in the 1970s, argued that it was his duty to implement the law and restrain Jadewell from operating, claiming that its five-year-old contract was fraudulent.

"Public roads and streets are beyond the commerce of man," the 78-year-old mayor said.

In going against the private parking firm, Yaranon earlier said he wanted to reclaim the public domain on behalf of the city residents.

Last Wednesday, the city council, on second reading, voted to rescind Jadewell’s contract and also repeal the city’s pay parking ordinance.

The Malacañang ruling, according to some sectors, vindicated Vice Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr., who had been the subject of criticisms when he took an oath as acting mayor last month.

Despite Bautista’s oathtaking, Yaranon never vacated his post, insisting that his motion for reconsideration was still pending.

Bautista has refrained from issuing any statements, insisting though that he was not power-hungry and that he was only complying with Malacañang’s July 26 ruling suspending Yaranon.