MANILA – The Sandiganbayan placed former Cadiz City, Negros Occidental mayor Eduardo Varela under a four-year probation in relation to the guilty verdict against him for illegal dismissal of local government employees in 1998.
Based on a resolution dated May 17 and released on Thursday, the Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division granted Varela’s application for probation subject to the conditions it has imposed.
“Upon perusal of the post-sentence investigation report, the court finds the recommendation for granting of the probation of Varela to be well-taken,” the Sandiganbayan said.
Varela was also required to report to his probation and parole officer at least twice a month and is not allowed to change his address without prior approval from the officer or court.
Varela must also secure a written permit from the officers or from the Fifth Division in case he intends to travel for more than 30 days.
He was directed to render community service and participate in tree-planting activities, secure employment, and refrain from associating with groups or persons with questionable character, among others.
Varela was convicted by the Sandiganbayan for violating Republic Act 6656, which protects the security of tenure of civil service personnel, after firing 166 employees in 1998 as part of the reorganization of the city government.
After the dismissal, Varela has hired 101 new personnel, prompting 19 of the fired employees to file a complaint against him.
They later secured a favorable ruling from the Civil Service Commission.
The employees were only reinstated after the term of Varela, who used the reorganization to violate the security of tenure of the complainants for political reasons./PN
