Lorega-San Miguel junks suspension of brgy secretary

Lorega-San Miguel barangay captain Fortunato Parawan and majority of his councilmen the other day voted against the proposed imposition of a preventive suspension on the barangay secretary who has been facing an investigation for alleged graft and corruption, and dishonesty.

During the barangay council session Wednesday evening, only two councilmen, Lorenzo Monsanto and Manuel Geniston, voted to put Milagros "Mely" Merino under preventive suspension.

Those who opposed the preventive suspension were councilmen Fritzgerald Herrera, Julie Yosores, Danilo Fuentes, Farolito Cuevas and Edgar Lozano.

Parawan himself clarified that he was against the suspension arguing that such move might duplicate a possible ruling of the Ombudsman, which is currently handling the investigation of Merino.

Parawan also admitted to his councilmen that he was unsure if he has the authority to impose the preventive suspension considering that Merino herself is an ex-officio member of the council.

"Tingali ang opisyal nga labaw nako, ang mayor tingali maoy makasuspenso. Kamo, unsay inyong ikasulti? (Probably an official superior than me, the mayor may impose the suspension. What are your opinions?)", he told the councilmen.

Such action however made some observers wonder why Parawan, who is a lawyer himself, was not certain on what move to take against Merino.

Section 85 of the Local Government Code states: "The local chief executives (meaning the barangay captains) may preventively suspend for a period not exceeding 60 days any subordinate appointive official or employee under his authority pending investigation if the charge...involves dishonesty, oppression or grave misconduct or neglect in the performance of duty, or if there is reason to believe that the respondent is guilty of the charges which would warrant his/her removal from service."

Some legal experts, when sought for opinion, told The Freeman that a preventive suspension is not considered a sanction, but is only intended to protect evidences, needed in the investigation, from easy access and possible tampering by the official or employee being investigated.

The law, they said, says: "Upon expiration of the preventive suspension, the suspended official and employee, shall be automatically reinstated in office without prejudice to the continuation of the administrative proceedings against him until its termination."

But if the delay in the proceedings of the case is due to the fault, neglect or request of the respondent, the time of the delay shall not be counted in computing the period of suspension, they said.

Merino and revenue personnel Edgar "Loloy" Nillas are currently under investigation on allegations that they connived in tampering the amount reflected in the triplicate of the receipt of a tax payment and made it appear less than the actual payment they received.

An Ombudsman investigator yesterday opined that the barangay council, if it wants, has the authority to suspend, or even dismiss, its barangay secretary for loss of trust and confidence.

As this case progresses, Merino still continues reporting to her office while Nillas no longer report for work for the past several days due to his diabetes and kidney ailment.

Nillas had already confessed his involvement in the irregularity but claimed it was Merino herself who wrote the "reduced amount" in the duplicate and triplicate copies of the receipts, upon his order. - Rene U. Borromeo