2 Nueva Vizcaya vice mayors suspended

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya — The provincial board has suspended the vice mayors of Bagabag and Alfonso Castañeda towns, one for alleged nepotism and the other for grave abuse of authority.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government served yesterday the 60-day preventive suspension order on Bagabag Vice Mayor Lita Castillo after Gov. Luisa Lloren-Cuaresma affirmed the provincial board’s decision last week.

Board member Edu Balgos, who chairs the legal affairs committee, said Castillo’s suspension stemmed from a complaint for nepotism filed against him by one Melchor Dumangeng.

Balgos said Castillo was suspended pending investigation into her alleged hiring of her own son as her driver, in violation of civil service rules.

A first-termer, Castillo, wife of former three-term Bagabag mayor Victor Castillo, reportedly intends to file a court petition against the suspension order.

Meanwhile, Cuaresma said she is also affirming the six-month suspension of Alfonso Castañeda Vice Mayor Jerry Pasigian for grave abuse of authority.

Cuaresma said Pasigian’s suspension order came after he failed to obtain a temporary restraining order from the court.

Pasigian’s suspension stemmed from his presiding over a special session without the required written notice to the municipal councilors.

Pasigian also faces car theft charges in the provincial prosecutor’s office for allegedly taking the Mitsubishi Pajero of Alfonso Castañeda Mayor Alfredo Castillo Jr. without the latter’s "knowledge and consent."

Castillo filed the complaint after National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents recovered his "stolen" car under the vice mayor’s "control" last April 22, or about a week after it disappeared.

Pasigian, so far the highest ranking elected Bugkalot official in the province, dismissed the complaint as mere "political harassment."