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Bacolod mayor counts on TRO to stay in office
BY MAE SINGUAY
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BACOLOD City – Mayor Evelio Leonardia cannot be dismissed from government service yet.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Negros Island Region has not yet received the dismissal order from the Office of the Ombudsman, according to DILG Region 6 director Anthony Nuyda.
Nuyda is concurrently heading the Interior department’s Negros office.
Leonardia and nine others ordered dismissed from government service were found guilty of grave misconduct and gross neglect of duty over a P50-million purchase of furniture and fixtures at city hall in 2008.
The dismissal order that DILG-Negros will serve Leonardia will come from DILG secretary Ismael Sueno, Nuyda told Panay News.
No such order has reached the DILG-Negros as of press time, he said.
Nine Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) members in 2008 were also ordered dismissed:
* Secretary to the Mayor Goldwyn Nifras (chairman)
* Department of Public Services head Nelson Sedillo Sr.
* City Engineer Belly Aguillon
* Engr. Aladino Agbones
* Engr. Jaries Ebenizer Encabo
* BAC secretariat Melvin Recabar
* former city budget officer Luzviminda Treyes
* former city accountant Eduardo Ravena
* former city treasurer Annabelle Badajos
Nuyda clarified that the DILG-Negros cannot serve the dismissal order if Leonardia and the others secure a temporary restraining order (TRO).
Leonardia had said he sought a TRO from the Court of Appeals.
Nifras said he and the eight others also sought a TRO from the appellate court and filed a motion for reconsideration at the Ombudsman on Monday.
Nuyda said he will serve the order as soon as he receives it from Sueno.
Ombudsman’s orders are “executory pending appeal,” said the local DILG official.
Meanwhile Councilor Em Ang expressed support to Leonardia.
Leonardia “has done so much for Bacolodnons,” said Ang, who was not around when supporters and political allies of the mayor gathered at the Bacolod City Government Center on Monday.
Ang gave Leonardia credit for the relocation sites for informal settlers, the Bacolod City College, the city hall building, “countless roads and bridges,” and the sanitary landfill, and for making MassKara Festival one of “the most sought-after and widely admired” festivals here and abroad.
“Let us rally behind him, pray for the speedy disposition of this case, that truth and justice will ultimately triumph,” she said on Facebook.
Councilor Ricardo Tan, who was also absent during the gathering, criticized allegations that he was behind the move to dismiss Leonardia.
Tan challenged his accusers to “come out in the open and prove it.” He said he was willing to resign if such claim were proven true.
Nobody informed him to go to the gathering of supporters on Monday, he said, adding that he remains loyal to Leonardia and his political group Grupo Progreso./PN
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