Resigned provincial exec now back at Capitol

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines – Resigned provincial administrator and concurrent provincial legal officer Richard Enojo has returned to work Monday after having announced late last week he needed at least two days to reconsider his resignation.

Enojo made the official announcement of his change of heart during Monday’s flag raising ceremony, said Capitol information officer Adrian Sedillo.

Governor Roel Degamo was not present during the regular first Monday of the month activity but he and Enojo had a meeting afterwards at the Capitol, Sedillo disclosed.

Enojo told department heads and other provincial government officials that for the second time around, he has prevailed over his family’s wishes for him to depart from Capitol and continue with his private practice.

To recall, the lawyer had tendered his resignation effective Monday last week but the governor did not act on it immediately. In fact, Governor Degamo was reported to have sought Enojo’s reconsideration.

At a press conference last Thursday, Enojo clarified that he was giving up his concurrent positions so he could pursue his political plans for the upcoming May 2016 elections, citing other reasons, such as having to increase his income as his daughter was entering a high-end university this school year.

Enojo had then announced he was most likely to seek the position of municipal councilor of Zamboanguita, a town in Negros Oriental about half an hour’s drive south of this capital.

The lawyer had also explained that having served at the Capitol for about four years with his cousin, the governor, at the helm, he had lost about 50 percent of his clientele.

He also rejected insinuations by opposition political quarters that he had left Capitol because he was not happy with the so-called unequal sharing of “income” with the provincial chief executive, an accusation that he scoffed at as he “would be earning so much more if he was still in private practice.”

According to Enojo, he took on the job first and foremost because Degamo was a cousin who needed his expertise, but now that he believes the governor can fare better without him, he had seriously thought of leaving Capitol to enter the political arena.

During Monday’s flag raising ceremony, though, Enojo did not make any mention of his political plan, although it was widely perceived by many that he would definitely be giving it up in favor of continuing his services with the provincial government.

Enojo also told those in attendance that his wife had wished him good luck on Monday morning as he departed for the Capitol to resume work, Sedillo added.

During Saturday’s launching of the governor’s Partido NegOrense, Enojo was seen in his company, sporting a shirt of the local political party which was attended by thousands of Governor Degamo’s supporters from all over the province.