Mayor receives no copy of ‘suspension order’ yet

MAYOR John Paul Alvarez is still performing his functions as municipal mayor of Ilog as he has not yet received any suspension order, his sister Representative Mercedes Alvarez (6th district, Negros Occidental) said Monday.

"I believe that it would be the Department of Interior and Local Government that will serve it, if there is any suspension order. But as of now, we have not received any order. Mayor Paul is still the mayor of Ilog," the lawmaker said.

She said that since there is no suspension order yet, the mayor also cannot file any motion relative to such order.

"We will see if there is jurisprudence on that. We will leave that to our lawyers. If there is a suspension order, we will abide with that," she added.

The congresswoman also emphasized that this particular case against Mayor Alvarez emanated from an anonymous letter sent to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and that it was the NBI that filed the case before the Office of the Ombudsman.

"In that anonymous letter that emanated from a disagreement between two teachers in Ilog, it has clearly stated that Mayor Paul should not be implicated in the case because he has nothing to do with it as the Municipal Government has provided that vehicle. The disagreement between the two teachers has something to do with the repair of that vehicle," the lawmaker said.

She said they have carefully studied the case and that they don't know where the stories started that the late Municipal Council member Karem Gequillana was the one who filed the case against the mayor.

"It's on the records of the case that the NBI has filed it and not Gequillana, much more not the late Judge Henry Arles," said Representative Alvarez.

Alvarez made the statement amid the case filed against Mayor Alvarez and his father before the Department of Justice relative to the killing of Arles.

She maintained that her father and brother have no reason at all, or has no grudge against the late judge.

Alvarez believes that soon, her family will be indicated from such allegations that besmirched the name of their family.

She also said that she welcomes the candidacy of Philip Arles against her.

"Anybody can run. It's good so that the people will have a choice. Let's see how the people will decide on us after the 2013 elections," she said.

Alvarez said that, as much as possible, she does not like to discuss the issue anymore but she cannot avoid suspecting that the case against her father and her brother is politically motivated because of the candidacy of Arles.

"He is endorsed by the opponent of my father (Vice Governor Alvarez) and he is running against me when, before he filed his COC, he (Arles) said that he is not running. He is welcome and it's the people who will decide for us," she said.

Representative Alvarez won over Arles by more than 90,000 votes in the 2010 elections.

The lawmaker said she will give priority on upland roads once reelected, as primary roads in the district are already concreted.

On the other hand, her bill on the conversion of the Negros State College of Agriculture into Central Philippine State University is already up for signature by the President after it has already passed the House of Representatives and the Senate.