ILOILO City – In yet another legal setback, Antique’s Gov. Rhodora Cadiao was held “guilty of oppression” by the Office of the Ombudsman and was penalized with a fine equivalent to one year of her salary.
This decision was in connection to the Ombudsman complaint filed by Provincial General Service Officer Antonio Dela Vega whom Cadiao reassigned to their Culasi satellite office some 100 kilometers away from the provincial capitol in the capital town of San Jose in 2016 but which the Civil Service Commission invalidated.
The Ombudsman decision was penned by Assistant Special Prosecutor II Lyn G. Dimayuga and dated Sept. 7, 2022 but was made known only recently. The recommending approval was by Assistant Ombudsman Pilarita T. Lapitan.
“The Honorable Secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government is directed to implement this Decision and to submit to this Office a Compliance Report…” part of the Ombudsman decision read.
The Ombudsman, however, dismissed for lack of merit the charges against Cadiao for grave misconduct and violation of Republic Act No. 6770.
It also “denied for being moot” Dela Vega’s ex-parte motion for Cadiao’s preventive suspension.
But it also denied Cadiao’s motion to quash the administrative aspect of Dela Vega’s complaint.
Just last week, the Seventh Division of the Sandiganbayan ordered the arrest of Cadiao who is accused of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act before the anti-graft court. Associate Justice Ma. Theresa Dolores C. Gomes-Estoesta, the Division chairman, issued the arrest warrant on June 7, and set the bail bond at P90,000.
Cadiao was able to post bail.
The governor’s legal troubles stemmed from her 2016 order reassigning Dela Vega, who believed that this was tantamount to constructive dismissal.
Dela Vega questioned the validity of the transfer order before the Civil Service Commission, which subsequently ordered Dela Vega’s reinstatement to the Provincial General Services Office on March 2017.
The Commission further ordered the provincial government that he be paid the representation and travel allowance (RATA) and other benefits due him covering the time he was reassigned to Culasi (from July 2016 to February 2018).
Dela Vega decided to file a complaint against Cadiao before the Office of the Ombudsman Visayas in 2018 when he failed to get the benefits due to him as ordered by the Commission.
MOTION TO SQUASH
In a press conference on June 12, Antique provincial administrator Atty. Nery Duremdes and Atty. Pampross Pagunsan, lawyer of Cadiao, said they were studying filing a Motion to Quash and challenging the Sandigabayan case filed by the Ombudsman against Cadiao.
The Office of the Ombudsman found probable cause to indict Cadiao for one count violation of Section 3(e) of Republic Act 3019 in a resolution dated Sept. 2, 2019 signed by Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Paul Elmer Clemente and approved by Ombudsman Samuel Martires on Oct. 22, 2021.
“We have not yet received the resolution of the Office of the Ombudsman in relation to this case. Upon receipt, we will be able to see how the Ombudsman resolved it,” said Pagunsan.
He also said there was an “error” in the warrant of arrest issued by the Sandiganbayan; the last name of the governor was typed “Cadio” instead of “Cadiao”.
“We will raise that,” said Pagunsan.
Duremdes and Pagunsan also lamented that Cadiao’s camp learned of the arrest warrant only through social media and reports of the mainstream media.
Even the “political detractors” of the governor knew about it before she did, they added.
“Something is fishy about political detractors having advance knowledge of the issuance of the warrant of arrest,” said Duremdes.
He also clarified the case is not about graft and corruption but a complaint by a private party claiming of not having received salaries, RATA and other benefits.
Pagunsan assured Antiqueños that the Sandiganbayan case won’t affect Cadiao’s delivery of public service to the province.
“She even said that what she is doing is for the good of the province, for the present and future generations of Antiqueños,” said Duremdes.
On June 12, in her first public appearance a few days after it was reported that an arrest warrant was issued against her, Cadiao delivered an Independence Day speech at the EBJ Freedom Park in the capital town of San Jose alluding to “independence from political harassment and political bullying” but without referring to her Sandiganbayan case./PN
