P-Noy urged: Solve appeal on Pangasinan mayor’s case

By Eva Visperas 

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan  – The provincial board of Pangasinan passed a resolution Tuesday  asking President Aquino to expedite the resolution of an appeal on the administrative case filed against the mayor of Urbiztondo town.

This developed as Mayor Ernesto Balolong, respondent in the administrative case filed by a former municipal treasurer, appealed before the Office of the President a decision of the provincial board imposing on him a preventive suspension of 60 days.

As of May 12, the Office of the President, through deputy executive secretary for legal affairs Michael Aguinaldo, issued an order staying the preventive suspension pending resolution of the appeal.

The order directed Balolong to submit his comments and the Sangguniang Panlalawigan to forward the complete records of the case to the Office of the President.

The early resolution of the appeal is expected to ease the tension in Urbiztondo, said board member Alfonso Bince Jr., author of the resolution.

Bince is the chairman of the provincial board’s committee on good governance and accountability, which handles the administrative cases filed against public officials.