BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Negros Occidental’s Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson refused to comment on the recent suspension of two department heads of the provincial government.
“Let the proper forum handle that. I hope they will be able to proceed judiciously,” Lacson said.
“I don’t want to discuss these cases. I think it would be unethical for me to discuss these cases that have been brought forward,” he added.
The governor admitted he got both positive and negative feedback about the sentiments of the rank and file employees of the provincial government.
“We have to do what we have to do. I don’t want to talk about the cases publicly,” he said.
Earlier, Renelo Lastierre, president of the Progressive Alliance of Capitol Employees, denied there was demoralization among provincial government employees of Negros Occidental.
“It’s the prerogative of the executive branch to discipline department heads and even rank-and-file employees. We have to respect it and just perform our respective obligations,” Lastierre said.
On Monday, Lacson ordered the 60-day preventive suspension of Provincial Budget Officer Jose Percival Salado Jr. and Mambukal Resort head Ellen Marie Jalandoni pending investigation of administrative charges against them.
The governor designated Budget officer IV Gemma Rose Flores as officer-in-charge of the budget office while Tourism Operations officer II Cheryl Decena oversaw the Mambukal resort.
Salado’s suspension is due to the alleged failure to study and evaluate the creation of new positions by the province in its annual budget for fiscal years 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019,
The oversight was believed to have led to excesses in the personal services (PS) cap allowance from P106,134,890.46 in 2015 to P595,224,524.03 in 2019, resulting to the disallowance of the said amount in 2019 and prohibition on Province of Negros Occidental to provide for additional PS items until such time that the PS cap is observed.”
Jalandoni, on her part, was slapped with a 60-day suspension, but for a different administrative charge./PN
