Malacañang orders suspension of Abra vice governor

MALACAÑANG has ordered the suspension of Abra Vice Governor Maria Jocelyn Valera-Bernos in relation to complaints filed against her for ordering the lockdown of a hospital at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said an 18-month suspension was issued by the Office of the President through the deputy executive secretary for legal affairs and was handed down against Bernos by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

A medical director of a hospital in Abra filed charges of oppression, abuse of authority, conduct unbecoming of a public official, and disobedience to national government policies in 2020 against Bernos.

Bernos, then the province’s governor, ordered the hospital’s lockdown after one of its nurses tested positive for the Covid-19 virus.

In defense, Bernos said she was just doing her job of protecting her constituents.

Bernos filed a petition for certiorari in court, seeking a temporary restraining order on the suspension.

They also plan to elevate the case before the Court of Appeals.

Her camp questioned the timing of the suspension order noting the dismissal of a similar complaint against Bernos in May 2022 by the Office of the Ombudsman.

"Ang kinukuwestyon natin ay bakit nila ipapatupad ang in-impose na suspension noong nakaraang termino as governor ni Vice Governor Joy," Lawyer Kurdel Paroy, Bernos' legal counsel, said in a press conference.

(We are questioning why they are implementing the suspension imposed during the previous term of Vice Governor Joy.)

“Parang ginagamit na nila ng power nila to attack yung mga kalaban nila dito sa baba, so I am again appealing to the Office of the President to verify this case or validate this case," Bernos added.

(It seems they are using their power to attack their opponents down below, so I am once again appealing to the Office of the President to verify or validate this case.) (TPM/SunStar Philippines)