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Saturday, November 22, 2003
Guv to rap de Jesus, allies for taking over departments
By Lizanilla Amarga
MISAMIS Oriental Gov. Antonio Calingin will file graft and corruption charges against acting Governor Miguel De Jesus, Calingin's vice governor, said Provincial Attorney Demosthenes Arbilon.
The counter-charges stemmed from de Jesus' appointment of himself and Provincial Board (PB) members as heads and officers-in-charge (OICs) over some departments in the Provincial Government.
This came as the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) 10 will hold a marathon hearing on the case of the P25 million Misamis Oriental Telephone System (Misortel) Gingoog City Telephone Exchange Expansion.
The case, which focused on the alleged graft charged by De Jesus against Calingin in the implementation of the project, will be discussed Thursday and Friday.
Meanwhile, Arbilon, who is replaced by PB Member Francisco Bade based on De Jesus' order, said the vice governor and the PB members with him are digging their own pits and throwing themselves into it with this latest move.
"Appointing their very own selves into these positions is illegal as there is now conflict of interest," he said.
Malacaņang issued a preventive suspension order against Calingin for dishonesty and grave abuse of authority for the P25 million Misortel mess. The order was served by the DILG 10 last Friday.
A violation
De Jesus that same day immediately took his oath as acting governor of the province and called for a meeting with all 15 department heads and OICs.
But as not one of them attended, the vice governor replaced all of them with the members of his newly created task force who took over their posts along with some PB members effective last Monday.
However, Arbilon told Sun.Star the move is illegal.
"They are elected legislative officers and now they are performing executive functions. This violates the principles of separation of powers and check and balance," he said.
He added that conflict of interest also arises from the fact that there are some posts taken over by the vice governor and the PB members that will give them undue advantage in accessing government resources to serve their personal interests.
Arbilon cited the case of PB Member Norris Babiera, who was appointed head of the Provincial Engineering Office when the latter is a project contractor himself.
He believes there is also something wrong in the vice governor petitioning for Calingin to be placed through a preventive suspension and, having achieved this, rushing to take over as manager of Misortel.
He said this is the department which holds the project and formed the basis of De Jesus' complaint.
Consequences
A preventive suspension is issued against Calingin to make sure he does not tamper with Misortel documents and other evidence or "influence" its employees againsttestifying.
But Arbilon said the vice governor who himself filed the complaint can do the same and even fabricate documents to convict the governor and win the case.
"Tanawon nato kini (We will look into this)...this is going to be a test case for the Ombudsman," Arbilon said.
De Jesus has already appointed himself to replace Jusie Roxas as Misortel manager while PB Majority Floor Leader Cancio Guibone replaced Atty. Mitchel Anayron as provincial administrator.
Babiera took the place of engineer Lester Bolo of the Provincial Engineers Office while PB Member Oliver Actub. who is also standing in as the acting vice governor, is also OIC of the Don Gregorio Pelaez Sports Complex.
Accountant IV Elsie Lopoy has now replaced Catalino Salahid Jr., while Budget Officer IV Elmer Wabe took the place of Claudita Baliton as provincial budget officer.
Local Legislative Staff Officer II Joel Sampollo replaced Roberto Cezar as OIC of the General Service Office.
De Jesus has also requested the Bureau of Local Government and Finance to cancel current Provincial Treasurer Elias Suacillo's request for extension of service and declare the position vacant, as the latter is already 65 years old.
Calingin for his part said it is "very self-serving" for De Jesus and the PB to take over as department heads in the province.
"This just shows that they are really power hungry and want to grab power no matter the consequences," he said.
Calingin and De Jesus are partymates who became rivals after the latter declared his intentions to run for governor next year precipitating a clash with the incumbent.
(November 19, 2003 issue)
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