THE Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) 7 to enforce the suspension without pay of Mayor Erwin Yu of Tudela town in Camotes Island, Cebu.
This came after the anti-graft office found Yu liable for simple misconduct for his refusal to reinstate four town hall employees in 2013.
His suspension will be for one month and a day.
The anti-graft office said that Yu’s continued defiance of the decision of the Civil Service Commission (CSC), which ordered the reinstatement of the complainants to their positions, constitutes misconduct.
Despite Yu’s reelection in May 2013, the ombudsman said that the Aguinaldo Doctrine could not be applied to his case.
The offense he allegedly committed happened prior to his current position as mayor and his refusal to fully implement the CSC decision continued during his present term.
Portia Suson, graft investigation and prosecution officer, found Yu liable for simple misconduct for his failure to comply with the CSC which ordered the reinstatement of the four town hall officials.
The Ombudsman-Visayas’s decision dated Jan. 14, 2015 and approved by Tanodbayan Conchita Carpio-Morales last May 1, 2016 was released yesterday.
The complainants were former town treasurer Angelita Roble, former accounting clerk Liliosa Labayan, former revenue collection clerk Josephine Montes, and Brenda Calinawan, former administrative aide.
In a memorandum dated June 13 and 23, 2010, former mayor Demetrio Granada dropped the complainants from the rolls of municipal employees for their failure to report for work.
The complainants questioned Granada’s memo before the CSC, which eventually ruled in their favor.
The CSC granted their appeal and ordered their immediate reinstatement with payment of their back wages and other benefits.
Mayor Yu appealed the CSC’s decision, arguing that he could not reinstate them until they are able to settle their allegedly unliquidated cash advances amounting to P12 million in 2009.
Yu also said the complainants have been dropped from the rolls of municipal employees due to their refusal to return to work.
Yu said that the government auditors advised him to withhold salaries of the complainants until they settle their cash advances amounting to P12 million.
When the complainants refused to submit their liquidation reports, Yu said he recommended to the ombudsman the filing of administrative charges against them.
The complainants also needed to settle their cash advances before they could receive their compensation, the mayor argued.
In the decision, graft investigator Suson said Mayor Yu could be held liable for simple misconduct, and not oppression.
Suson said Yu failed to comply with the CSC ruling without legal justification.
“His refusal to implement the CSC decision clearly constitutes unlawful behavior and undermines the issuance of government agencies,” said Suson.
Suson also recommended the conduct of a separate fact-finding investigation on the alleged unliquidated cash advances of the complainants.
