BY ERWIN ‘AMBO’ DELILAN
NEGROS OCCIDENTAL governor Eugenio Jose “Bong” Lacson is in a dilemma.
Two of his “top men” – Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz II and Executive Assistant II Chery Sheil Valenzuela – were ordered suspended by the Office of the Ombudsman for six months without pay.
Negrenses are keenly observing how the governor deals with this.
Will he allow the suspension to take its course?
A recent statement may give a hint. The governor stressed: “The way I understand it, nothing is final yet.”
He also personally believes that Diaz had done nothing wrong.
Since 2019, several capitol department and section heads were dismissed, resigned or filed with charges. Some of the highly-publicized cases were of the:
* Provincial Budget Officer
* Retired Provincial Planning and Development Officer
* Former Provincial Agriculturist
* Former Assistant Provincial Administrator
* Former Attorney IV at the Provincial Legal Office (PLO)
* Former legal staff at PLO
* Former Cashier 1 at the Provincial Treasurer’s Office
* Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) staff on the controversial and still unresolved abono fiasco
* 5 OPA staff in a “drinking” brouhaha in Victorias City.
In all these cases, the governor showed his steely side. He was tough.
Now, here comes the suspension order against Diaz. It stemmed from the complaint filed by Sumanting regarding Section 7 (b)(2) of Republic Act (RA) No. 6713.
Section 7, which refers to prohibited acts and transactions, mentioned in paragraph (b) about outside employment and other related activities of public officials and employees during their incumbency.
Sumanting accused Diaz and Valenzuela of lawyering JLL Agricultural Development (JLL) against the Municipality of Binalbagan in an expropriation case sometime in 2019.
Diaz, in a media interview on Tuesday, vehemently denied the accusation, but admitted receiving retainer from JLL as his client ever since.
But in a 20-page decision dated November 10, 2023, signed by Leilani Tagulao-Marquez, graft investigation and prosecution officer III, and approved by Ombudsman Samuel Martires on April 1, 2024, the graft agency said, “Appearing as counsel for JLL undeniably came in conflict with Diaz’s and Valenzuela’s obligations as officials of the provincial government of Negros Occidental.”
“Even if the trial court did not officially consider Valenzuela’s appearance during the pre-trial conference on January 27, 2020, the fact remains that she was still the counsel of JLL during the incumbency of her employment with the government, which is prohibited,” portion of the decision read.
Coffee shops in Bacolod are abuzz right now with talks on whether or not the governor has the “balls” to execute the Ombudsman’s order against Diaz and Valenzuela.
PUBLIC CONCERN
American lawyer Marvin Ammori had said: “Nothing is more fair game, than political matters of public concern.”
The governor must be conscious about what people are saying now.
JK Rowling, famous author of the Harry Potter series, keep reminding everyone about fairness by saying: “If you want to see the true measure of a man, watch how he treats his inferiors, not just his equal.”/PN
