Palace dismisses complaint vs Quezon gov, 9 others

QUEZON, Philippines – This province is now pump-primed for full throttle as Malacañang removed one major political gridlock that has put all economic projects on hold.

Gov. David Suarez gained the Palace’s legal support with a 12-page decision dated Nov. 28 dismissing a complaint of Vice Gov. Vicente Alcala “for lack of merit” and “exonerated” Suarez and members of the provincial board.

Alcala accused Suarez and nine members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of abuse of authority and violation of the Code of Conduct after the governor sought a special session to amend a certain flaw in a batch of resolutions passed by the provincial board.

The resolutions were in connection with the authority granted to Suarez to enter into memoranda of agreement with the national government and various departments and agencies.

Last June 27, the provincial board approved Resolutions 692 to 710 allowing Suarez to enter into MOAs. It also required Alcala, the board’s presiding officer, to be a co-signatory to all contracts as a representative of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan.

But provincial legal counsel Charisse Mendoza-Bajas pointed out that Alcala could not be a co-signatory since the function of entering into contracts is purely under the power of the governor.

Bajas argued that under the Local Government Code (LGC), only the governor is authorized to represent the province in all contracts that it will enter into.

To cure the defect, Suarez sought the special session. Expectedly, it did not sit well with Alcala who boycotted the special session last Aug. 3, prompting the provincial board members present to appoint a temporary presiding officer.

In his complaint, Alcala accused Suarez and the board members of usurping authority, oppression and conduct prejudicial to the best of the service after they clipped his authority to be a co-signatory to contracts entered into by the Quezon provincial government.

Alcala said the repeal of Resolutions 692 to 710 was invalid and improper since there is no public interest involved to warrant the special session and that it violated due process when not all members of the provincial board were notified.

Malacañang said it is within the governor’s power to call for a special session when public interests warranted it, as determined by the governor himself.

“Under the LGC, it is only the governor who is authorized to enter into contracts on behalf of the province. The vice governor is not given such power. This is because the governor and the vice governor have separate and distinct functions in the provincial government,” the Palace said.

As for the charge that the special session had been railroaded, Malacañang said Alcala conveniently did not report for the special session and his absence did not invalidate the proceeding.