Ombudsman orders dismissal of Dumanjug officials

Nelson Garcia

FORMER Dumanjug town mayor Nelson Garcia along with Sangguniang Bayan (SB) members Ricardo Boquecosa, Ricardo Condes, Eliezar Amadora, Meriam Llano, Antonio Garcia and Municipal Information Officer Emmylou Cabonilas were found guilty of grave misconduct by the Office of the Ombudsman and meted out with a penalty of dismissal from government service.

The penalty of dismissal includes the cancellation of their government eligibility, forfeiture of retirement benefits and their perpetual disqualification for reemployment in government; while those that have already been separated from service will have to pay a fine equivalent to their one year salary. An information for the criminal charge of usurpation of authority or official functions, as penalized under Article 177 of the Revised Penal Code, will also be filed against them before the Sandiganbayan.

The decision on the administrative charge as well as the resolution for the criminal charge both stemmed from a single incident involving Garcia’s appointment of Emmylou Cabonilas, Dumanjug’s information officer, as acting SB secretary.

The criminal and administrative complaints before the Ombudsman were filed by then Dumanjug vice mayor Efren Gica, town councilor Joshua Dacumos and Nerio Aquino who was Gica’s appointee to the position of SB secretary.

In June 2013, Nelson Garcia designated Cabonilas as acting Sangguniang Bayan (SB) secretary after the retirement of Dumanjug SB secretary Victor Tan.

The Cebu Provincial Board (PB) later found that appointment illegal and suspended Garcia for grave abuse of authority as under the Local Government Code, it was the vice mayor that had the authority to appoint all personnel of the Sangguniang Bayan, the PB said.

On September 2013, Gica appointed Aquino as SB secretary, an appointment that was later invalidated by the Civil Service Commission-Cebu South Field Office (CSC-CSFO), whose ruling was later appealed by Gica.

Garcia had pushed for the revocation of the vice mayor’s appointment on the ground that Aquino allegedly did not undergo screening by the Personnel Selection Board (PSB). Garcia also cited the lack of certification of availability of funds from the municipal accountant.

In December 2013, while Gica’s appeal regarding Aquino’s appointment was pending before the CSC Regional Office, Garcia called for a special session to pass the town’s 2014 budget.

Resolution No. 18-2013, which approved Dumanjug’s 2014 Appropriation Ordinance, was passed and signed by all of the SB respondents, including Cabonilas who signed as “Temporary Sangguniang Bayan Secretary”.

In June 2014, the CSC Regional Office denied the appeal of Gica and affirmed its earlier resolution that Aquino’s appointment was not valid. This CSC decision was, however, later on set aside and Aquino’s appointment was confirmed.

Graft Investigation and Prosecution Officer IV Kristine Fineza explained in the decision that Cabonilas usurped authority and committed grave misconduct when she signed the budget resolution despite the appointment of Aquino as SB secretary then.

Fineza pointed out that although Aquino’s appointment was being questioned before the CSC, the invalidation of Aquino’s appointment was not yet final at the time when Cabonilas signed the budget resolution.

“He (Aquino) still had the right to act as Sangguniang Bayan secretary at that time and he should have been the one who signed Resolution 18-2013 and not respondent Cabonilas,” the decision read. For consenting to Cabonila’s usurpation of authority, Garcia and the rest of the respondents were also found liable for grave misconduct as they allowed her to perform the functions of an SB secretary and sign Resolution 18-2013.

“Without such recognition from them, respondent Cabonilas would not have been able to exercise the function of an SB Secretary that rightfully belonged to complainant Aquino,” the Ombudsman resolution read.

With regard to the criminal aspect of the case, the Office of the Ombudsman found no probable cause to indict the respondents for the original charge of falsification of public documents.
Administrative and criminal charges against SB member Evelinda Quirante were also dismissed by the anti-graft office as it was found that she had not consented to Cabonilas’ usurpation of authority.

In an interview with Cebu Daily News, Garcia called the Ombudsman decision “unfair” and said that he had yet to receive a copy so that he could take the appropriate steps.

Garcia maintained that the allegations in both cases were merely conjectures and should not have been entertained in the first place.

“Based on Section 80, it is the mayor who can open the position of Sangguniang Bayan secretary. Unsang kasoha nga gi-dismiss ta nga right man na sa chief executive to open a vacant position (Why did they dismiss our case when it is the right of the chief executive to open a vacant position),” Garcia said.

For his part, Gica said that while he was happy with the decision, he was also a bit sad because of the gravity of the penalty.

“Nalipay gamay at the same way, naguol sad coz dili sayon ang ma-penalize og sama niini nga penalty nga perpetual disqualification from holding any office from the government (A bit happy but also a bit sad because it isn’t easy to be penalized with such a penalty as perpetual disqualification from holding any government office),” Gica said.