December 8, 2024 | 12:00am
BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — A municipal mayor in Negros Occidental has been suspended for terminating two medical consultants of a local health facility whose contracts have yet to expire.
Calatrava Mayor Marilyn Era was found guilty of grave abuse of authority and gross negligence of duty by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan’s committee of the whole.
The committee, acting as a quasi-judicial body, suspended Era for two months.
However, to prevent disruption of delivery of basic services to the people, the committee allowed Era to continue performing her duties, and instead ordered her to pay a fine equivalent to her two-month salary.
The committee decided to use the money to compensate complainants Lewyn Torres and Kristine Ureta, in accordance with existing rules and regulations governing the implementation of the decision of the quasi-judicial body.
Records showed Torres and Ureta were hired as consultants of the Calatrava Municipal Hospital for the period covering April 1 to June 30 this year.
The doctors’ appointments were contained in a memorandum of agreement signed between them and the municipal government of Calatrava.
The complainants said that a month before their contracts expired, they were informed that they would no longer receive a work schedule.
Torres and Ureta said they wrote a letter to Era asking for a clarification, but they reportedly did not receive any reply from the mayor.
This prompted the complainants to bring the matter before the Sangguniang Panlalawigan.
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