The Office of the Ombudsman found Escalante City Vice-Mayor Santiago Maravillas guilty of two counts of Abuse of Authority/Oppression and was ordered suspended for one year.
Investigation found that during his stint as Acting Mayor, Maravillas terminated the services of contractual employees Florencio Lauron and Francisca Pabuaya, occupying the positions of Heavy Equipment Operator II and Administrative Aide II, respectively. Documents reveal that respondent issued a termination letter dated 12 January 2016 to Lauron while Pabuaya was excluded from the payroll beginning on 01 January 2016.
“Respondent’s act of terminating the services of complainants [Lauron and Pabuaya] without cause and without due process is a clear display of excessive use of authority. The act of summarily dismissing complainants violates Section 36(a), Article IX of Presidential Decree No. 807 (Civil Service Decree of the Philippines) and Section 46, Chapter 7, Title I, subtitle a, Book V of Executive Order No. 292 (Administrative Code of 1987) which both provide in part [that] no officer or employee in the Civil Service shall be suspended or dismissed except for cause as provided by law and after due process,” cited the Consolidated Decision.
The Ombudsman directed the Secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government to implement the order. ###