Ombudsman suspends Bukidnon gov

ZUBIRI

FOR REFUSING to sign a retiring employee’s request for conversion of his leave credits, Bukidnon Gov. Jose Ma. Zubiri Jr. was ordered suspended for six months by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales.

The Office of the Ombudsman issued the order after it found Zubiri guilty of grave abuse of authority amounting to oppression, when he did not approve the request of retired provincial assessor Carlos Ycaro for the commutation of 300 days in unused leave credits.

For ignoring Ycaro’s two subsequent letters, Zubiri was also found to have violated Section 5(a) of Republic Act No. 6173 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, which requires officials to act promptly on letters and requests.

In a nine-page decision released on Monday, Morales directed Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno to implement the suspension order within 10 days of receipt, and file a compliance report within that period.

Zubiri, in a statement on Monday, asked the Ombudsman to review its decision. Zubiri is the father of Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri and Bukidnon Rep. Jose Zubiri III.

The elder Zubiri’s suspension takes effect even pending an appeal, the Ombudsman’s decision said.

“The decision shall be executed as a matter of course and an appeal or motion for reconsideration shall not stop it from being executory,” it said.

Records showed that Ycaro began processing his clearances as early as January 2013, five months before he retired.

While he had secured some of the signatures by June 17 that year, his retirement day, Ycaro said acting provincial general services officer Roger Guillermo, provincial budget officer Fe Retuertas, provincial accountant Richel Okit, assistant provincial accountant Ronnie Feliano and then provincial treasurer Teodora Dinlayan refused to sign his papers, supposedly on Zubiri’s orders.

Ycaro said the provincial planning and development coordinator had certified his entitlement to the commutation of leave credits. Then Gov. Alex Calingasan, he said, had also signed the document, but erased his signature after being prevailed upon by Zubiri, who won as governor in May 2013 and was set to assume office in July.

As Zubiri had not approved the request since then, Ycaro said he was forced to write the governor twice, only for these letters to be ignored.

The decision said Zubiri argued that he could not clear Ycaro because he failed to account missing chairs in the Kaamulan Open Theater that were under his custody as a former provincial general services officer.

Zubiri, in a statement, said the chairs owned by the Bukidnon government were worth P3.25 million. He also said Ycaro failed to properly account P8.1 million spent for electrification, installation and supply of equipment.

Zubiri reiterated that he had no authority over Ycaro’s application for commutation of leave credits because he was not the governor when it was filed.

“How can I sign his clearance and act on [Ycaro’s] request for leave commutation in January 2013 then? The person to sign his clearance and act on his request would have been the incumbent governor of the province (referring to Calingasan). Clearly, this statement has no basis at all,” Zubiri said.

The Ombudsman, however, rejected this contention as “absurd and unacceptable.” It pointed out that Zubiri was already the proper signatory starting July 2013, up to the point when Ycaro made his second follow-up.

It also ruled that the missing chairs “cannot serve as valid excuse to deny approval of his application for leave commutation, especially where he has more than 300 days in commutable leave credits.” With a report from Jigger J. Jerusalem, Inquirer Mindanao