The Negros Occidental Provincial Legal Office will conduct a full blown administrative trial against five employees of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) who have been formally charged for grave misconduct and preventively suspended for 60 days.
Division head, Engineer IV Jimlo Garsula, opted for an administrative trial, while Engineers III Ramelo Letran and German Abihay, Engineer 1 Resin Palacios and Maria Luisa Abaño of the OPA submitted their position papers, Provincial Legal Officer Alberto Nellas Jr. said on Wednesday, September 7.
The five were formally charged for grave misconduct “for the misuse of a government vehicle”.
The five OPA staff made the vehicle and its driver wait beyond office hours while they engaged in a drinking spree at a restaurant in Victiorias City, Nellas said.
Garsula, the head of the OPA team, aside from misuse of government property is also facing separate charges for verbally maltreating another government employee, he added.
To give a fair chance we have chosen to proceed with the formal administrative trial of all five OPA personnel and a date is being set, Nellas said.
The four, who are entitled to lawyers, can choose to participate or just wait for the resolution of the case, he added.
It will be swift and could be over before their preventive suspensions end, he said.
The goal of the administrative trial is to find substantial evidence whether they are guilty of grave misconduct, Nellas said.
The penalty for grave misconduct is dismissal from the service, forfeiture of benefits and perpetual disqualification from holding public office, he said.
Such decision can be appealed before the Civil Service Commission regional office, he added.*