ANTIQUE – “To my detractors, please leave us alone.”
This is the appeal of Gov. Rhodora Cadiao to the cynics of her governance in the province of Antique.
After Monday’s flag-raising ceremony, Cadiao delivered a thank-you speech after the Seventh Division of the Sandiganbayan dismissed the graft complaint filed against her.
“I am calling, tama na… Hayaan ninyo kaming mag-trabaho, hayaan ang mga empleyado na mag-trabaho,” Cadiao said, donning a red shirt that she signified as the color for the strength to fight and to emerge victorious.
“Bakit kailangang madamay ang mga empleyado? Gumagawa lang man sila ng kanilang trabaho,” the governor further said.
For Cadiao, her detractors’ harassment could affect the delivery of programs of the provincial government, such as her annual visit to the sacada workers in Negros Occidental and preparations for the Binirayan Festival this December, among others.
“Nagapasalamat gid ako sa Gino-o, and for those of you who are there who give your prayers, you were there who held my hand in my heartbreaking journey, maraming salamat,” Cadiao added.
She also described the past four months of battling the allegations as a “roller coaster” ride.
“Sa apat ka bulan, I’m smiling at you. But in my heart, I was hurt, and along the way, I saw smiles of sympathy… Sa apat ka bulan nakilala ko ang mga tawo who believe in right,” Cadiao said, adding that in her 17 years of being in public service, it was a first for her.
A one-page dispositive portion of the resolution signed by Associate Justice Chairperson Ma. Theresa Dolores C. Gomez-Estoesta was publicized on Friday, Oct. 20.
Associate Justices Zaldy Trespeses and Georgina Hidalgo concurred.
“The Omnibus Motion for Reconsideration of the Resolution dated 21 September 2023 and the request for dismissal of the case due to a lack of jurisdiction by the accused Rhodora Javier Cadiao are granted,” read part of the Sandiganbayan resolution.
Gomez-Estoesta also ordered the release of Cadiao’s cash bond, which had been deposited at the Municipal Trial Court in Kidapawan City, Cotabato amounting to P90,000.
The earlier-issued preventive suspension order on Cadiao was also lifted, and the directive to the Department of Interior and Local Government to enforce the suspension had been rescinded.
The graft case against Cadiao stemmed from her 2016 order reassigning Provincial General Services Office head Antonio Dela Vega to their Culasi satellite office some 100 kilometers away from the provincial capitol in the capital town of San Jose de Buenavista.
Dela Vega viewed this as constructive dismissal and challenged its legality with the Civil Service Commission./PN