News Briefs

DEPUTY OMBUD WANTS SUPPORTIVE ASST

Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Pelagio Apostol said he is still weighing whether to fill the vacancy left by assistant ombudsman Virginia Palanca-Santiago who retired on Monday.

“The duty of an assistant ombudsman is to support me,” Apostol said.

He earlier said he would recommend scrapping the position after his  epxerience with Santiago, whose presence he called “divisive”.

The two disagreed over the handling of the investigation of the Cebu  International  Convention Center whose construction was rushed to be ready in time for the 2007 ASEAN Summit..

Among those who may be qualified to succeed Santiago are lawyer Carla Juris Tanco, acting director of the Public Assistance and Corruption Prevention Bureau; lawyer Euphemia Bacalso, acting director of the Evaluation and Investigation Office, and lawyer Gaudioso Melendez, acting director of the prosecution bureau.

Apostol added that if ever he would make a recommendation to have an assistant, he would ask the Ombudsman to implement a policy where his assistant will only serve with his “full trust and confidence.

“If the assistant ombudsman will disagree with my findings, he or she should be dismissed,” he said./Reporter Ador Vincent Mayol

BALILI CASE STILL IN MANILA

No order of preventive suspension has been issued against  Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia and other Capitol officials  in the Balili lot case.

Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Pelagio Apostol said the case was still pending in Manila.

Cebu City Rep. Tomas Osmeña the other day claimed that a preventive suspension was  already ready for signature and would soon be released.

“If he (Osmeña) has an idea about the preventive suspension, we don’t have any. We don’t have an update. I won’t hide it if there’s an update,” Apostol told reporters.

In 2010, the Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas recommended formal  preliminary investigation against Governor Garcia and several Capitol officials over the P98.9 million Balili lot controversy.

It was  found that 82 percent or 20.2 hectares out of the 24.7 hectare Balili property in Naga City is timberland and submerged in water and planted with mangroves. /Reporter ADOR VINCENT S. MAYOL