Siquijor vice gov files complaint vs gov for usurping authority

Siquijor Vice Gov. Dingdong Avanzado. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

CEBU CITY—The rift between two former allies has widened.

Siquijor Vice Gov. Dingdong Avanzado has accused Gov. Zalde Villa of usurping his authority when the governor transferred his employee to the Office of the Vice Mayors’ League without his consent.

Avanzado went to Cebu City on Wednesday to file his complaint of grave misconduct against Villa in the Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas.

Also named respondent was Vice Mayor Richard Quezon of Siquijor town, president of the province’s Vice Mayors’ League.

In his complaint affidavit, Avanzado said Quezon wrote to Villa on Jan. 10 seeking the transfer of Claudio Agan from the Office of the Vice Governor to the Office of the Vice Mayors’ League.

But Avanzado wrote to Quezon that his request to the governor would not be given due course because Agan was an employee under the Vice Governor’s Office.

But Quezon wrote back to Avanzado, informing him that the governor had already issued an order allowing the transfer of Agan.

Since Villa occupies the highest position in the province, Quezon said the governor’s order should be followed.

Avanzado said it took him a while before deciding to file a case because he wanted to study the matter first and gather enough evidence to make sure his complaint would stand in court.

“We wanted to file a strong case. This is a stand I am making against the power play and bullying by governors of their vice governors. I know this is not the only case; a lot of vice governors can relate to this,” he said.

Avanzado and Villa are both from the Liberal Party.

But their relationship turned sour a few months after they were elected into office when rumors started to spread at the Capitol that Avanzado was planning to run for governor in 2016, the vice governor said.

He stressed that he had no plans of running for higher office. Avanzado said he had informed their party headquarters about their rift.