Dismissal order vs mayor served

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines – The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) office in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has served the order issued by the Office of the Ombudsman dismissing Montasir Sabal as mayor of Talitay, Maguindanao.

Noor Hafizullah Abdullah, DILG-ARMM secretary, served the dismissal order signed by DILG Undersecretary Austere Panadero at Sabal’s office yesterday. Municipal administrator Tato Aruyod received the order.

In a resolution issued on July 13, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales ordered Sabal’s dismissal for misdeclaring his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth. The ombudsman said Sabal did not declare two parcels of land and a house at a subdivision in Davao City as well as a lot in Cotabato City.

Sabal’s brother Abdulwahab, the vice mayor of Talitay, has been detained since September over illegal drugs.

The mayor was ordered suspended last year for not reporting for work. He reportedly went into hiding last November after a raid on his house allegedly yielded sachets of shabu and unlicensed firearms.