I was denied due process by Ombudsman - mayor

By Juan B. Dait Jr.

KIANGAN, Ifugao — Mayor Jonathan M. Cuyahon of this tourist town has cried "foul" over a three-month preventive suspension imposed on him by the Ombudsman.

In an interview, Cuyahon said the Ombudsman denied him due process because he was not furnished a copy of the complaint against him nor was he asked or called to submit his answer to the complaint.

Cuyahon was charged before the Ombudsman on Jan. 7, 2008 for grave abuse of authority and gross misconduct by Kiangan municipal engineer Teodoro Famorca.

On March 17, 2008, Joaquin Salazar, acting director of the Ombudsman’s complaints and evaluation service, endorsed Famorca’s complaint to the Office of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, recommending the preventive suspension of the mayor for three months.

The mayor said Salazar failed to furnish him a copy of Famorca’s complaint before he recommended to the Ombudsman his preventive suspension.

The case stemmed from a complaint filed by Ernesto Tayaban, barangay captain of Bokiawan, this town, in connection with the loss of several drums of gasoline intended for a road project in his barangay. Famorca, municipal engineer, was the custodian of the gasoline.

Acting on the complaint of Tayaban, then Mayor Albert Indunan created a five-man special committee, headed by Civil Registrar Edwin Dincog, to investigate Famorca.
Dincog’s committee found Famorca guilty of grave dishonesty, but the 2007 elections disrupted the resolution of the case.

When Cuyahon assumed as mayor, he upheld the investigating committee’s findings and ordered Famorca to resign.