Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson has dismissed the Negros Occidental assistant provincial administrator from the service for grave misconduct and gross neglect of duty, Provincial Legal Officer Alberto Nellas Jr. said Wednesday, March 2.
The order dismissing Ma. Mina Pelejo, who also was former Negros Occidental Comprehensive Health Program (NOCHP) head, was served on Thursday, February 24.
Pellejo denied committing any unlawful act and said she will seek other remedies under the law.
Formal charges for grave misconduct, serious dishonesty and falsification of an official document were also lodged against Provincial Human Resource Management Office (PHRMO) officer-in-charge Felomina Gozon and Human Resource Management Officer III Daidie Lopez, which were served Wednesday, March 2, Nellas said.
The 60-day preventive suspension order against the two that was also serve Wednesday was recalled by the Provincial Legal Office upon their commitment to fully cooperate during the investigation and submit evidence, Nellas said.
They assured that they are not in a position to exert undue influence on witnesses or tamper evidence against them, he said.
The two PHRMO officials were charged for the unauthorized alteration of the minutes of a Human Resource Merit Promotion and Selection Board meeting, the formal charges against them said.
Meanwhile, the decision against Pellejo said while she headed the NOCHP it incurred a total expenditure of P86.4 million for 2019 causing it to suffer an excess of P1.6 million of its annual budget for that year.
It also said NOCHP had total accounts payable to hospitals, outside pharmacies and refundables to patients of P26.7 million for 2019.
Her lawyer has not yet received a copy of the governor’s order dismissing her from the service, Pellejo said Wednesday.
“At this time, I can say that the decision is not surprising since the administrative proceeding was obviously conducted to just give a semblance of due process. There was nothing irregular or unlawful in the way the Negros Occidental Comprehensive Health Program was implemented,” Pellejo said.
“I am very confident to say that the evidence that was presented against me is very weak, and this can be supported by the records of the case. I still have remedies under the law and I now look forward for my case to be reviewed by an unbiased authority,” she added.*