The Department of the Interior and Local Government served yesterday the 60-day preventive suspension order on Bagabag Vice Mayor Lita Castillo after Gov. Luisa Lloren-Cuaresma affirmed the provincial boards decision last week.
Board member Edu Balgos, who chairs the legal affairs committee, said Castillos suspension stemmed from a complaint for nepotism filed against him by one Melchor Dumangeng.
Balgos said Castillo was suspended pending investigation into her alleged hiring of her own son as her driver, in violation of civil service rules.
A first-termer, Castillo, wife of former three-term Bagabag mayor Victor Castillo, reportedly intends to file a court petition against the suspension order.
Meanwhile, Cuaresma said she is also affirming the six-month suspension of Alfonso Castañeda Vice Mayor Jerry Pasigian for grave abuse of authority.
Cuaresma said Pasigians suspension order came after he failed to obtain a temporary restraining order from the court.
Pasigians suspension stemmed from his presiding over a special session without the required written notice to the municipal councilors.
Pasigian also faces car theft charges in the provincial prosecutors office for allegedly taking the Mitsubishi Pajero of Alfonso Castañeda Mayor Alfredo Castillo Jr. without the latters "knowledge and consent."
Castillo filed the complaint after National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents recovered his "stolen" car under the vice mayors "control" last April 22, or about a week after it disappeared.
Pasigian, so far the highest ranking elected Bugkalot official in the province, dismissed the complaint as mere "political harassment."