Mayor Reynaldo Cachuela was suspended along with Councilors Flora Cinense, Maximo Ancheta, Sr., Maximo Ulzano, Philip Bilegra and Leo Monta, and sangguniang bayan secretary Norberto Baldobino in an order that was served by Interior and Local Government Provincial Director Abraham Pascua on Thursday.
They were charged for passing last April a resolution which bore the signature of a councilor who turned out to be absent during its deliberation.
The DILG ordered Vice Mayor Benjamin Gamit Jr. and Councilor Alberto G. Estillore to serve as acting mayor and vice mayor, respectively.
Cachuela and his suspended allies, however, did not accept their suspension orders. He said he was rejecting the orders in protest over the lack of due process by the Office of the Ombudsman. “We were never given a chance to air our side. There is travesty of justice,” he lamented.
Ancheta said the cases were filed May 11 and on June 29, the suspension order came out without furnishing the respondents a copy of the complaint.
“Meaning, the suspension came ahead of the complaints,” he said.
The mass suspensions were ordered by Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon Gerard A. Mosquera dated June 23, 2015 and were enforced only last Thursday.
The suspensions stemmed from the complaints filed on April 11 by Gamit, Estillore and Councilor Gerry B. Agpalo.
Cahuela was then vice mayor. He became mayor last May following the dismissal of then-Mayor Quintino Caspillo for nepotism.
In their complaints, the three claimed that the appointment of Rhea Jasmine B. Tobias as municipal budget officer was endorsed for confirmation to the SB by Caspillo on April 20.
On motion of Ulzano, the SB deferred action on her appointment pending resolution of an appeal made by another candidate for the post, Dante Enipto.
However, two days later, a SB resolution denying Tobias’ appointment was suddenly presented to all the councilors for their signature, the complaint stated.
The complainants said the resolution did not reflect the matters agreed upon by the members present in the April 20 session, describing the said resolution as “twisted, mangled and distorted.”
They said they demanded the resolution corrected but the respondents ignored them and even falsified the document by making it appear Cinense participated in the deliberation just to satisfy the required number of votes to pass a resolution.
Cinense admitted that she was absent during the April 20 session but claimed that there was a quorum. She said it was Estillore who moved for the deferment and not Ulzano.
