By Benjamin Cuaresma
MANILA, Philippines — The intensifying political conflict at San Pablo City Hall has reached a new level after the Office of the Ombudsman ordered the preventive suspension of both the city’s mayor and vice mayor in separate administrative cases they filed against one another.
The anti-graft body announced that Vice Mayor Justin Colago has been placed under preventive suspension for up to six months without pay while it investigates administrative charges lodged by Mayor Arcadio Gapangada Jr.
In a July 22 order signed by Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla, the Office of the Ombudsman said there was sufficient basis to suspend Colago pending the resolution of allegations for grave abuse of authority, grave misconduct, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.
The Ombudsman ruled that the evidence on record was strong enough to warrant preventive suspension and noted that Colago’s continued presence in office could influence the investigation or compromise documentary evidence relevant to the case.
The complaint stemmed from allegations that the vice mayor approved and certified appointment papers, daily time records, accomplishment reports, and payroll documents for a job order worker who later executed an affidavit declaring that she never reported for work and did not sign the documents attributed to her.
The order came only weeks after the Ombudsman likewise placed Mayor Arcadio Gapangada Jr. under preventive suspension in a separate administrative case initiated by Colago.
The complaint against the mayor accused him of reassigning city officials and removing them from their regular functions to make way for job order workers, an act alleged to have disrupted the normal operations of the local government and violated administrative rules.
The exchange of complaints has exposed the widening rift between San Pablo City’s two highest-ranking elected officials.
Earlier this year, Gapangada sought an Ombudsman investigation against Colago over allegations that the vice mayor had hired approximately 200 alleged ghost employees. Colago categorically denied the accusation, insisting the claims were baseless and politically motivated.
With both officials now under preventive suspension, the leadership of the Laguna city faces a period of uncertainty while the Office of the Ombudsman proceeds with its separate administrative investigations.
The Ombudsman emphasized that preventive suspension is not a penalty but a legal mechanism intended to safeguard the integrity of an investigation by preventing possible interference with witnesses, records, and other evidence.
ia/xf
