THE Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas Region 6 has ordered the suspension of Valladolid Vice Mayor Rommel Yogore and Municipal Treasurer Cherryl Aguirre for three months without pay for grave misconduct.
The decision dated April 14, 2016 obtained by Sun.Star Bacolod yesterday was signed by Amy Rose Soler-Rellin, graft investigation and prosecution officer III, and approved by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales.
The administrative complaint was filed against Yogore and Aguirre by local broadcaster Larry Concepcion, a town resident.
Lilian Española, local treasury operations officer IV, was also included, but the case against her was dismissed.
The complaint stemmed from the allegations of Concepcion that Yogore, when he was still municipal mayor, favored JB Nieve Hardware and Construction Supply, which is owned by Jonie Nieve, husband of Marites Yogore, sister-in-law of the then mayor.
The complainant further claimed that the municipal government covering the period from January 25, 2010 to May 31, 2010 paid the supplier a total of P288,271.88 for the delivery of supplies and materials in nine transactions.
The Ombudsman conducted a fact-finding investigation, and filing of criminal charges was made on May 16, 2014.
The case against Española was dismissed after she stated in her counter-affidavit that she has already transferred to Candoni town on January 8, 2010.
The anti-graft agency said the nine transactions lacked the resolutions of the Bids and Awards Committee “recommending shopping as the alternative mode of procurement for the said supplies and materials.”
“The absence of a BAC resolution recommending shopping as an alternative mode of procurement violates Section 12 of Republic Act 9184. Despite the absence of this BAC resolution in all nine transactions, respondent Aguirre certified that the supporting documents are complete and respondent Yogore approved the disbursement and signed the checks totaling P288,271.288. This procedural shortcut, in violation of procurement rules, constitutes simple misconduct,” the decision said.
Yogore and Aguirre cannot be reached for comment as of press time.
