Ex-Albay gov dismissed; Legazpi City mayor suspended

FORMER Albay Governor Noel Rosal has been ordered dismissed by the Office of the Ombudsman even as his wife, incumbent Legazpi City mayor Carmen Geraldine Rosal, was suspended for one year after they were both pronounced guilty of administrative offenses.

In a 22-page Joint resolution released last August 29, the Ombudsman declared the former governor guilty of grave misconduct, oppression, and two counts of conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service for removing three provincial officials from their posts and assigning them to lesser positions.

Mayor Rosal was suspended for taking part in the irregular appointment of Legazpi City Engineer Clemente Ibo to a second post as OIC Provincial Engineer in an alleged scheme to make him chairperson of the provincial Bids and Awards Committee.

The ruling was based on a complaint filed on November 4, 2022 by Legazpi City resident Adrian Loterte, who accused Rosal of corruption and misconduct in public office.

The grave misconduct and oppression charges involved the questioned removal of Provincial Engineering Office (PEO) chief Dante Baclao, Provincial Agricultural Office chief Cheryll Rebeta, and Provincial Human Settlement Office chief Gina Paz Sipin.

Ombudsman investigators said Baclao was illegally moved to the Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office (APSEMO), Rebeta to the Provincial Tourism, Culture, and Arts Office, and Sipin to the Provincial Education Department.

“Here it is clear Baclao, Rebeta and Sipin were unceremoniously deprived of their powers of supervision …thus resulting in the diminution of their status as Department Heads,” the Ombudsman pointed out.

Even if the three were eventually reinstated to their original posts, the Ombudsman said the offense of invalid reassignment had been committed.

Mayor Rosal was implicated after she belatedly sought authority from the Sangguniang Panlungsod for the transfer of Ibo from city engineer to OIC chief of the PEO.

Investigators said the transfer required prior imprimatur from the local government but the Rosals failed to get the approval of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan and the Sangguniang Panlungsod before Ibo started at PEO on July 1,