Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson refused today (December 22) to comment on a complaint filed against him by a dismissed provincial government lawyer, saying he is leaving the decision to the Office of the President.
Ernie Magaspag, a dismissed lawyer of the Negros Occidental Provincial Legal Office, has filed a complaint against Lacson before the Office of the President through the Department of the Interior and Local Government and is seeking his immediate preventive suspension.
Magaspag, in a letter to President Rodrigo Duterte dated December 9, said he was filing a formal complaint against the governor for alleged abuse of authority, misconduct in office, gross negligence or dereliction of duty, and other administrative cases as his evidence may warrant.
This is pertinent to the complaint before the Office of the President through the 8888 Citizen’s Complaints Hotline for undue delay in the payment of supplies by the province of Negros Occidental, endorsed by the DILG to the Office of the Governor, he said
Lacson said it is everybody’s prerogative to file complaints, that is precisely why Malacañang set up a complaints hotline.
He will not comment on the case in public as he already sent his reply to the proper forum within the required timeline, the governor said.
The complaint against the governor had no supporting evidence to show that the governor had committed any irregularities, Provincial Legal Officer Alberto Nellas Jr. said Monday, December 21.
It seems to be a retaliatory move by Magaspag who was dismissed from office by the governor, he added.*