Cebu town vice mayor facing 2 graft raps

MANILA, Philippines — A municipal vice mayor in Cebu is facing two graft charges for giving employees a bonus without the approval of the Sangguniang Bayan and for rehiring his doctor-wife as health officer when he was mayor.

The complaints against Borbon Vice Mayor Noel Dotillos were filed by the Office of the Ombudsman before the Cebu Regional Trial Court.

Bail of P90,000 for each complaint was recommended for Dotillos’ temporary liberty.

The first complaint stem-med from the defendants’ action when he was mayor in 2019, wherein he authorized the disbursement of P570,000 for the anniversary bonus of the  employees.

The ombudsman recently rejected an appeal of Borbon, who said the unauthorized fund release was a mere “procedural lapse” made in good faith.

The second complaint involved Dotillos’ entering into a contract of service with his doctor-wife in 2024, again without the approval of the municipal council.

Dotillos’ wife retired as municipal health officer in 2021 and had maximized the two six-month extensions allowed by the Civil Service Commission.

Prosecutors said Dotillos showed manifest partiality by renewing his wife’s contract so she could continue receiving remuneration.

“The claim that there were no physicians available or willing to work as municipal health officer in Borbon is self-serving,” state prosecutors said, noting there was no proof showing the plantilla item was published after Dotillos’ wife retired.