FOR VIOLATION OF OMNIBUS ELECTION CODE

DEPARTMENT of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Provincial Director Virgilio Sison is facing a complaint filed jointly by Urdaneta City Mayor Julio Parayno III and Vice Mayor Jimmy Parayno before the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), charging him for violation of the Omnibus Election Code by serving suspension orders sans COMELEC exemption.

The two Paraynos asserted in their complaint received by the COMELEC Law Department on January 22, that in accordance with existing Rules of Court, they did not personally or by substituted service receive the decision of the Office of the President suspending them for one year each in cases filed against them by former Liga ng Barangay President Michael Brian Perez.

They stated that on January 7, 2025, the DILG provincial office “maliciously and malevolently posted copies of the decision suspending the two onto the doors of the offices of the Mayor and Vice Mayor as it was not able to serve said document in accordance with existing Rules of Procedures, and considering this, said decision ‘is deemed to have not taken effect’.”

Under Batas Pambansa Bilang 881 or the Omnibus Election Code, the suspension of a public official during an election period must be supported by an exemption from the COMELEC en banc unless the case involves graft and corruption charges.

At 4 a.m. on January 13, a day after the start of the election period on January 12, Sison, with some staff, went to the Office of the Secretary of Sangguniang Panlungsod Rufino Ramil San Juan V at the New City Hall in Barangay Anonas, to serve the suspension orders as well as letters to Councilor Franco Del Prado Sr., and Councilor Warren Andrada designating them as acting mayor and acting vice mayor, respectively.

San Juan was not in his office to receive the documents and no one was authorized to receive the same. Sison insisted on leaving the documents on top of the table of San Juan and called policemen to record their act in the police blotter.

The next day on January 14, Sison again personally went to the New City Hall with two of his staff to serve the same documents. Both Councilors Del Prado and Andrada were at the old city hall in Poblacion.

As those documents were not personally received by the addressees, they said Sison again posted the letters and document in a brown envelope into the wooden doors of the office of both city councilors, the complaint affidavit stated.

The two Paraynos said that being a provincial director of DILG, Sison cannot feign ignorance of the unenforceability of the Office of the President’s orders as these were served without clearance from the COMELEC.

They cited penalties for violators as stipulated in Section 264: “Anyone found guilty of any election offense under this Code shall be punished with imprisonment of not less than one year but not more than six years and shall not be subject to probation. In addition, the guilty party shall be sentenced to suffer disqualification to hold public office and deprivation of the right of suffrage”. (Leonardo Micua)

 

Parayno asserts ‘sick leave’ doesn’t need Gov’s approval

URDANETA City Mayor Julio Parayno III laughed off a post on social media by the Office of Governor Ramon Guico III claiming that his application for sick leave did not come into effect as it was not given due course, asserting that the approval for such absence is only ministerial on the part of the superior public official.

The leave in question covered January 7 to 21, filed by the city’s Human Resources Officer upon his request, when Parayno said he was suffering from his recurring gout. On the 7th, the suspension orders issued against him and Vice Mayor Jimmy Parayno were served by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

Interviewed at his office at the old Urdaneta City Hall last week, he said he remains mayor as he did not officially receive the suspension orders.

Staff of the DILG provincial office merely posted the documents onto the doors of the offices of the mayor and vice mayor, which Parayno said was not in accordance with existing Rules of Procedures in serving such orders.

He said he cut short his sick leave on January 12, with the pain from his gout manageable, to officially receive Papal Nuncio Charles Brown when he visited Urdaneta City that day, and reported the next day, January 13, to his office.

Parayno noted that January 12 was the start of the election period, and a clearance or approval from the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) was needed to effect the suspension of an elected public official, unless the case sought to be implemented is a violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

His and Vice Mayor Jimmy Parayno’s one-year suspension stemmed from the complaints of dismissed Liga ng mga Barangay President and ex-officio member of the Sangguniang Panlungsod Michael Brian Perez, and not for graft.

The two Paraynos have filed a case against DILG Provincial Director Virgilio Sison, whom the mayor noted was his classmate in college, for violation of the Omnibus Election Code for attempting to serve the suspension orders as well as letters to Councilors Franco del Prado and Warren Andrada designating them as acting mayor and acting vice mayor, respectively, twice on January 13 and 14 without approval from the COMELEC en banc. (Leonardo Micua)

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