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[av_heading heading=’Celino doubts legality of del Rosario’s order | City employees who took a ‘holiday’ may be in trouble’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY GLENN VIDAL BEUP
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ROXAS City – Several city government employees may face consequences for not reporting to work on April 21, the opening day of the Capiztahan.
Mayor Angel Alan Celino refused to acknowledge Gov. Antonio del Rosario’s executive order (EO) declaring that day a special nonworking holiday in Capiz.
“I had to seek first the opinion of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) regional office [regarding] the legality of the governor’s order,” Celino told this reporter.
Roxas is a component city in the province.
“I also sent a separate letter to the Civil Service Commission concerning those employees who were not in their post despite the non-implementation of the said [EO] by the city government,” Celino said.
This year’s Capiztahan is the celebration of the 116th founding anniversary of the civil government of Capiz and the commemoration of the death of the late President Manuel A. Roxas.
According to Celino, the Interior department had “consistently opined” that local governments have no authority to declare holidays.
“The power or authority to declare a holiday is lodged with Congress and the president of the Republic of the Philippines. Nowhere in the Code or in any other law can you find that this power or authority has been delegated by Congress to the [local government],” Celino told this reporter, citing Opinion No. 15, series of 2010 of the DILG Region 6.
Capitol should have declared, through legislative action, a “special day” instead, the mayor said.
But Provincial Legal Officer Ronnie Dadivas contended that the EO was legal.
It was “pursuant to Republic Act 9217 in commemoration of the death anniversary of the late President Manuel A. Roxas, which actually falls on April 15 of every year,” Dadivas told this reporter in a text message.
But April 15 fell on a Saturday, the nearest Friday, April 14, was Good Friday, said the lawyer.
Meanwhile del Rosario said they just wanted to “foster unity among our local leaders as we celebrate the Capiztahan.”
Nevertheless the governor said he “[respects] the stand of the city government.”
No Roxas City official showed up at the Capiztahan opening ceremony. In the absence of a city hall representative, Rep. Emmanuel A. Billones (1st District) and Sangguniang Panlalawigan member Sonny Besa raised the city banner./PN
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