BY ADRIAN P. NEMES III
Tangub Brgy. Captain Noli Villarosa will not step down despite the 90-day suspension order issued by the Ombudsman in the Visayas, his legal counsel, Jomax Ortiz, said yesterday.
Ortiz said the suspension order issued by Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Paul Elmer Clemente against Villarosa and served by the Department of the Interior and Local Government Bacolod, is not yet executory.
In issuing the order, Clemente said they found substantial evidence of simple misconduct against Villarosa, and imposed the penalty of suspension from work without pay for three months.
Ortiz said that the Ombudsman needs to resolve the motion for reconsideration they filed under Section 7 of the agency’s Rules of Procedure before the suspension becomes executory, hence Villarosa will remain as the barangay captain of Tangub.
Ortiz added that under the rules of the Ombudsman, complaints that are tantamount to less than 30 days suspension should be considered “immediately executory”, adding that they will seek legal remedies once their motion for reconsideration had been acted upon.
Ma. Joy Marideth Madayag, head of DILG-Bacolod, said that if Villarosa refuses to step down from his post, he may face charges for usurpation of authority, but Ortiz said they are willing to take the risk.
Villarosa’s suspension stemmed from the complaint filed by kagawad Dindo Amadeo on June 19, 2019, who claimed that the former punched him. Villarosa had earlier dismissed the complaint as mere political harassment. Ortiz said that one of the witnesses of the kagawad had already recanted his statement.*
