CamNorte gov suspended for failing to comply with CSC order

Camarines Norte Governor Edgardo Tallado. JUAN ESCANDOR JR./INQUIRER SOUTHERN LUZON

The Camarines Norte governor earlier embroiled in a sex scandal was ordered suspended by the Ombudsman for refusing to comply with a Civil Service Commission (CSC) order.

In a statement on Thursday, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales found Governor Edgardo Tallado guilty of oppression/grave abuse of authority.

He was meted out with a one-year suspension in connection with his administrative offense of refusing to comply with a CSC order to reinstate provincial veterinarian Edgardo Gonzales in November 2013.

Also found administratively liable were Tallado’s co-accused Sim Mata, Jr. (Provincial Legal Officer) and Mario dela Cruz (Supervising Administrative Officer), who were suspended for one year without pay.

“The series of acts committed by Tallado and Mata, together with dela Cruz, against Gonzales squarely fall under Oppression/Grave Abuse of Authority,” the Ombudsman said in its order dated Oct. 2.

READ: Camarines Norte governor in sex scandal apologizes

Tallado was first embroiled in a sex scandal controversy with an alleged mistress when his wife went missing for five days only to surface again blowing the lid on the scandal.

READ: Camarines Norte governor’s wife, aide seen at hotel

The governor first sought the help of government authorities in locating his wife, who he said drove out with a staff member to a supposed meeting with village officials before both of them disappeared on Oct. 17 last year.

When she surfaced five days later, thee wife Josie Tallado said she had escaped because her husband held her in house arrest and cut all her communications. She said she discovered a sex video of her husband, who got mad and accused her of uploading the video on the internet.

Tallado has since apologized for the video, appealing to his detractors not to use it against him because it had nothing to do with his work.

In a separate administrative case, the Ombudsman suspended Bacolod City Administrator Rolando Villamor for six months and one day without pay due to conflict of interest.

Villamor was found guilty of Conduct Prejudicial to the Best Interest of the Service for serving as counsel for Galeno Construction Inc., which filed a civil case against the city government.

The Ombudsman said it is a clear case of conflict of interest when Villamor “invited suspicion of infidelity to either party… by representing a party whose interest collides with that of his employer.”

“Respondent’s transgression erodes the public’s trust in government employees especially since he holds the esteemed position of City Administrator… Any act that falls short of the exacting standards for public office cannot be tolerated,” the Ombudsman said in a decision dated Oct. 1. RAM