Negros Occidental Provincial Tourism Officer Cheryl Decena and two others on Thursday, Nov. 6, filed a Motion for Reconsideration to the six-month suspension meted on them by Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson.
Lacson suspended Decena and four employees previously assigned to the Mambukal Resort and Wildlife Sanctuary in Murcia for six months without pay due to “simple neglect of duty”.
“They were found administratively liable for slight neglect of duty related to irregularities and delays in the remittances of cash advances, resulting in mismanagement and a P3.5 million loss to Mambukal for calendar year 2023,” Provincial Legal Officer Alberto Nellas earlier said.
Decena, April Love Wee and Ester Ignacio filed a MR claiming their constitutional right to due process was violated since they were charged under the 2017 RACCS (Revised Administrative Cases in the Civil Service) but penalized under the 2025 RACCS.
The Disciplining Authority also failed to consider the present mitigating circumstances as required by the RACCS, such as length of service of the respondents and the fact that this would be a first time for any of the respondents to ever be charged, a press release from Decena said.
The non-consideration of the mitigating circumstances and the addition of “supposed” aggravating circumstances under the 2025 RACCS, caused the penalty to be imposed in the maximum degree of six months, the press release said.
The three Capitol employees also cried foul over the fact that “the data used in the case against them was based on an initial, and thus incomplete report”.
Long time efforts to request for a copy of the final report have fallen on deaf ears, the press release sai.
Decena hopes that the case will be evaluated by an independent legal team and eventually dismissed by the governor.*