Pangasinan mayor, vice mayor suspended

ASINGAN, Pangasinan, Philippines — The Office of Ombudsman has suspended for one year the mayor and vice mayor of this town for putting their names and photos in an ambulance the local government acquired last year. 

In a resolution signed by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales recently, Mayor Heidee Chua and Vice Mayor Carlos Lopez Jr. were found guilty of  simple misconduct, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of service and violation of the Code of Conduct on Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees. 

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) was ordered to implement the suspension order. 

Councilor Evangeline Dorao, who filed the complaint, said she wrote a letter to Chua and Lopez dated Oct. 10, 2016 reminding them of DILG Memorandum Circular 2010-101, which prohibits the placing of names, initials, images or pictures of government officials in billboards and signage on government projects and property. 

Dorao said she wrote another letter dated Oct. 17, 2016 after she did not receive any feedback from the respondents.

The ombudsman said Chua and Lopez eventually removed their names and  photos on the ambulance, but neither acknowledged Dorao’s letters nor informed her of the removal of their names and photos on the ambulance.

When asked for comment, Chua said the suspension order is “too harsh.” She vowed to file a motion for reconsideration.

illegal contracts

In Basilan, Lamitan Vice Mayor Roderick Furigay was suspended for six months for grave misconduct in connection with the contracts the city government entered into with two firms allegedly owned by his relatives when he was mayor.

Bids and awards committee chairman Florence Herrera, acting city acountant Nilo Sotto and BAC members Ignacio Enriquez, Olivia Ablao and Raquel Hibionada were ordered suspended for a month.

Graft probers said the city government entered into a contract with HHH Developer and Real Estate Inc. to supply construction materials for its Kulay-Bato Boat Landing project amounting to P548,256 and with Furigay College Inc. for a scuba diving course worth P175,000 in 2012.

“Furigay’s act of permitting the...transaction of his close relatives lacked the necessary justification...to render them aboveboard... That the supporting procurement documents were highly questionable gives away a contrary disposition on his part and his tendency to succumb to corruption,” the ombudsman’s ruling read.

The respondents were not cleared from administrative liabilities even though the two firms refunded the total amount of the contracts, the court said. – With Elizabeth Marcelo