THE secretary of the Municipal Council of San Simon is facing a preventive suspension for allegedly taking out official documents from the municipal hall.
It could be remembered that on January 18, Municipal Council secretary George Cariño was accused of taking out the original copy of resolutions and the logbook without permission from the local council or fellow office staff.
Cariño said, however, that at that time, he only brought out the documents to make copies for safekeeping since the photocopier at Municipal Council hall was not functional.
Nearly five months after the incident, Cariño has been served with a 60-day preventive by Vice Mayor Leonora Wong on May 28.
But on June 4, Cariño still attended the regular session of the Municipal Council and was performing his duty as secretary, which triggered a discussion between him and Wong.
According to Wong, Cariño's attendance to the session was a "clear defiance" of the suspension order served against him.
"He's acting like he is an untouchable because he was saying that nobody can suspend him. He was saying that he is not taking orders from me which is a clear defiance of an official order," the vice mayor said.
She said Cariño may face administrative and criminal charges for disturbing a session, which he was not allowed to attend to.
"If he does not want to respect me, it's okay. But as his immediate supervisor and the one who signs his payroll, I will assure that he will not receive his salary for the duration of his suspension because as for me, the order is effective," Wong said.
Wong said the preventive suspension order served against Cariño was to prevent him from influencing the investigation against him conducted by the Municipal Council members.
Cariño, for his part, said he is only asking for a legal basis or opinion that can support the move of the vice mayor.
"There is a gray area in the implementation of the suspension order. Since this is the first time to happen in San Simon, I'm only saying that we need to be careful and do everything with observance to all guidelines, and rules and regulations about suspending an employee," he said.
He added that he already filed a motion for reconsideration (MR), which must be effective for 15 days since filing.
"I am not questioning the authority of our vice mayor but what I was saying is the order from her office was not yet final as it was only eight days since I filed and MR that's why I was asking our vice mayor to still recognize my incumbency as SB secretary," he said.
The embattled secretary also asserted his right to receive his salary until the order is final and executory.
He said such move must not be allowed, as it may create unnecessary legal citation, which can be used by other officials in the future.
"We must be careful about this because we are also talking about all existing and future government employees who can be victimized by their superiors who are abusing their powers," Cariño said.