Misconduct results to 1-year suspension
RIZAL, Kalinga – The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the suspension
for one year without pay of the mayor of this town and two local executives for
appropriating around P14 million for a project to put gravel over farm to
market roads in barangays here before the 2016 elections which was inadequately
implemented.
In her decision ordering suspension of Rizal Mayor Marcelo
V. De La Cruz, former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales said De La Cruz was
guilty of “simple misconduct and conduct prejudicial in the interest of
service.”
Also ordered suspended for the same duration without pay
were municipal accountant Rodelia B. Busacay and municipal budget officer Delia
D. Jacob for signing and approving documents related to the project.
The suspension order was signed April 17,2017 by Morales
but was received only by the municipal government last week, said councilor
Robert R. Echalar, who earlier filed the case against De La Cruz along with his
co-councilors Rogelio D. Lawad, Frank P. Wad-asen, Collin T. Dalanao, and Ponz
Anthony L. Orodio.
The Ombudsman ordered the Dept. of Interior and Local
Government to implement the suspension immediately.
It was not known if De La Cruz has asked for a temporary
restraining order.
Echalar said the Commission on Audit earlier declared the
project as irregular and illegal since the municipal council in 2015 only made
a resolution approving the project signed and approved by De La Cruz.
The project contractors, one of whom was a certain
Jeffery Celestino and one who was not named reportedly were paid for the
gravelling project even if this was irregular and not fully implemented since
some barangays were “not even sprinkled with a single grain of sand.”
The COA ruled such projects must be implemented with an
appropriation ordinance, not a mere resolution of the municipal council.
Gerard A. Mosquera, Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon earlier
recommended action against the which was approved by Morales.
No comments:
Post a Comment