Incoming Samar lawmaker found guilty of misconduct

TACLOBAN, Leyte – The incoming congressman of the first district of Samar has been found guilty of simple misconduct in a case filed against him when he was vice governor.

In an eight-page ruling, the Office of the President said former governor Stephen James Tan defied the moral values expected of every public servant when he embarrassed a member of the provincial board during a council session.

The ruling, signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea on June 17, was handed down nine years after the filing of an administrative complaint against Tan.

The case stemmed from a complaint filed by board member Alma Uy-Lampasa, who said Tan yelled and uttered invectives at her on Aug. 20, 2013.

Uy-Lampasa said Tan called her “abnormal” in front of her fellow board members and other people who were at the session hall.

The Office of the President suspended Tan, who won in the congressional race during the May 9 elections, for a month without pay.

But noting that Tan cannot be suspended as he is no longer a vice governor when the decision was issued, the Office of the President instead ordered him to pay Uy-Lampasa an amount equivalent to his one-month salary as vice governor.

“I did not expect to get justice, considering Tan and his siblings are influential people,” Uy-Lampasa said.