Only Ombudsman Sangguniang Panlalawigan has the authority to carry out preventive suspension – DILG boss

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) stressed that it does not have the authority to preemptively suspend a local government unit (LGU) official.

Interior Minister Benhur Abalos said in a press conference on Monday, stressing that only the Ombudsman or the Sangguniang Panlalawigan can impose a preventive suspension on a local official.

“The preventive suspension of the DILG is not possible. Don’t worry, I can’t wait to get married again. “While we were trying to remove the mask, we had to give a reprimand,” Abalos said.

(The DILG does not have the authority to suspend people as a precautionary measure. We do not have the authority to fire people. We do not have the authority to suspend people or even reprimand them.)

Abalos was responding to a question on the possible preventive suspension of Bamban Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, whose identity as a Filipino citizen is being questioned due to her alleged involvement in an illegal Philippine offshore gambling operator company (POGO).

However, according to multiple reports, Abalos said he ordered the National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM) to revoke Guo’s authority to represent and supervise the officers and personnel of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in her community.

Pursuant to Napolcom Memorandum Circular (MC) No. 99-010, elected governors and mayors are automatically represented as representatives of the Commission in their respective jurisdictions.

The MC stipulated that mayors have the authority to supervise and control police units in their respective cities or provinces, including the direct recruitment and deployment of PNP units and personnel.

POGO ties?

Last Tuesday, a total of 165 workers from one of the POGO companies Zun Yuan Technology Incorporated in Guo City, which is also affiliated with it, were deported to Pudong District in Shanghai, China.

According to the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, 167 people were initially scheduled for deportation. However, the departure of two workers has been postponed as they face non-bailable charges of illegal detention and human trafficking.

Given Guo’s alleged ties to POGOs, the DILG last week asked the ombudsman to suspend Guo after the agency’s task force investigating illegal POGO firms in its city reported troubling findings.

Last Thursday, the attorney general’s office said it had assembled a team of lawyers to gather the necessary evidence for a possible quo warranto petition against the mayor.