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By Francis Allan L. Angelo
A POLICE officer in Iloilo province has filed criminal and administrative raps against Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr. before the Office of the Ombudsman.
SPO1 Rex delos Reyes of Igbaras PNP station, through his lawyer Plaridel Nava, accused Gonzalez of libel, grave misconduct and oppression.
Delos Reyes filed his plaint, which was addressed to Tanodbayan Merceditas Gutierrez, with the Ombudsman-Visayas Iloilo office Tuesday.
The cop said he sued Gonzalez for harassing him since last year. Delos Reyes said his agony began when the justice department chief saw him talking to former Iloilo City Prosecutor Efrain Baldago at the new Iloilo airport.
Gonzalez ordered Baldago’s relief as city prosecutor early this year for alleged graft and corruption which the latter denied.
Delos Reyes also blamed Gonzalez for his transfer from the Regional Mobile Group to Igbaras for alleged links to criminal syndicates. He also rapped Gonzalez for having him transferred to Mindanao also for purported criminal activities.
The libel suit was based on Gonzalez’s pronouncement over a radio interview accusing delos Reyes of maintaining armed goons. Gonzalez also said in the same interview that delos Reyes was not reporting to Igbaras but was always seen in Iloilo City.
Gonzalez had also accused delos Reyes of lobbing grenades at the cars of Chief Insp. Musa Amiyong, Iloilo City Police Office intelligence chief, and former punong barangay Ramonito Gratis.
Nava said they are seeking for Gonzalez’s preventive suspension if the Ombudsman finds probable cause to investigate the justice secretary, adding this is “to vindicate the honor and reputation of my client.”
“We want to prove that Secretary Gonzalez is only harassing SPO1 delos Reyes. Even if we are going against the justice secretary, we are confident in our justice system. We believe that justice does not choose even if the respondent is the President’s friend. We hope that the Ombudsman will be fair and file the case in court so that SPO1 delos Reyes will get justice,” Nava said.
Aside from the Ombudsman cases, Nava said they are preparing a petition for injunction and a temporary restraining order against delos Reyes’s reassignment to Mindanao.
Delos Reyes is one of the 11 police officers whom Gonzalez lobbied with the Department of Interior and Local Government to be transferred to the war-torn region.
Latest reports from the PNP national headquarters said the request for transfer is now with the Directorate for Personnel and Record Management in Camp Crame.
Nava said they will challenge the reassignment order in court once his client receives it.
“The order is illegal, tainted, groundless and plain and simple harassment so we will ask the court if delos Reyes’s transfer is valid.”
In an interview over Aksyon Radyo, Gonzalez only scoffed at delos Reyes’s suit.
“Do it fast. I’m shaking (with fear) and I want to answer everything,” Gonzalez taunted.
By Francis Allan L. Angelo
DESPITE the accusation hurled against her, outgoing Department of Health (DOH-6) regional director Lydia Depra-Ramos said she is leaving “in a happy mood and (with) a legacy for the Ilonggos.”
Depra-Ramos also scored Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr. for believing in “baseless and false information” against her administration.
Gonzalez earlier said he sought Depra-Ramos’s relief from Region 6 for alleged anomalies. But she said her reassignment was “a promotion, not a sacking” because of her accomplishments in Western Visayas.
The outgoing DOH-6 chief will be assigned as assistant cluster head of the policy and standard development team for service delivery and sectoral management conditioning team at the DOH central office. From there, she will take over DOH-2 regional office in December.
Depra-Ramos said her program on local health system development “has become the model in the country and a tourist spot in the region.”
“Other local government officials are visiting Region 6 to study and apply the local health system we implemented here. They are learning a lot on how we harmonized health services in communities,” Depra-Ramos said.
She said DOH-Center for Health Development (CHD-6) also garnered numerous awards during her administration, particularly the model regional office awards.
DOH personnel also underwent training to enhance their skills under her watch, Depra-Ramos said.
“I think I imbued in them the culture of performance. They don’t just want to be outstanding but the most outstanding also. Our personnel are very competitive achievers,” she added.
Depra-Ramos also defended her office’s response to typhoon Frank saying there was no major disease outbreak after the flood.
“We stayed up late monitoring the situation after the flood. Our surveillance was round- the-clock. When the cases reached 20 persons, we immediately sent our response team to prevent any outbreak. Even the media knew that no major disease outbreak happened after the storm,” she said.
Depra-Ramos also presented certificates of commendation and appreciation DOH-6 received from various local government units in Aklan for the agency’s prompt post-typhoon Frank response.
Aklan was one of the areas hit hardest by the typhoon.
‘INCORRUPTIBLE SYSTEM’
Depra-Ramos also debunked allegations of graft and corruption during her administration, particularly the issue on unliquidated cash advances and grants, expired medicines and claims for attorney’s fees.
She said the cash advances and grants were intended for local government units but were coursed through the DOH-6.
Depra-Ramos said the unliquidated advances and grants amounted to more or less P16 million before she took over DOH-6 “but we have substantially reduced the amount to more or less P 5million by asking for the liquidation reports from the LGUs.”
“Every month our field personnel are following up the liquidations reports from the LGUs,” she added.
As regards the cash advances of DOH workers, Depra-Ramos said she makes sure that they liquidate their advances lest they will be barred from initiating projects or travels.
The DOH accounting personnel said they have no accounts payable to suppliers and contractors “because we follow a strict system in the regional office.”
“We don’t let our suppliers wait unlike in other agencies. Have you seen suppliers lounging in our offices to follow up transactions? We make sure that we pay them according to our system,” Depra-Ramos said.
As regards the procurement of medicines and supplies, the outgoing DOH-6 chief said all supplies are properly tagged and stored in the warehouses. The movement of supplies is also strictly monitored through a flowchart system.
“And we don’t stock expired medicines because we make sure that all the supplies are disposed to local governments within two months. And we have a monthly inventory report in the status of the supplies which we submit to the central office.”
Depra-Ramos also showed certifications from the Sandiganbayan and the Office of the Ombudsman to prove that there are no graft cases against her. “Will I be allowed to leave Region 6 if there cases against me?”
On the issue of attorney’s fee she claimed, Depra-Ramos said she is entitled to it under the Magna Carta for Health Workers.
While the Commission on Audit disallowed the claim, Depra-Ramos said it is now on appeal.
“Apart from that, the COA has not made any negative report on DOH-6’s performance during my time. I pity Secretary Gonzalez for believing in false information fed to him by other people,” she said.
DOH-6 personnel reached by The Daily Guardian said Depra-Ramos was very strict with office regulations “because her failure will be the failure of the whole agency.”
“It hurts us to read and hear that she is being accused by people who are not even from our department,” said one employee who sought anonymity.
By Francis Allan L. Angelo
The brother of former mayor Vicente “Bugok” Ramirez of Lambunao, Iloilo is accused of murdering two persons in Ajuy town after a shootout in the evening of August 7.
Juanillo Castro filed the murder charge against Julio “Oyok” Ramirez for the death of his brother Alejandrino “Bebing” Castro.
Ramirez is also accused of killing Joseph Herida Jr., a nephew of Alejandrino Castro. by Atty. Edison Belloga, Castro’s counsel, filed the murder raps with the Iloilo Provincial Prosecutor’s Office Tuesday.
Ramirez along with Paul Dignadice, Jose “Lalo” Zayco and a certain Botik were involved in a shootout with cousins Vincent and Joseph Herida and their uncle Alejandrino “Bebeng” Castro in the evening of August 7 in Ajuy town proper.
Ramirez allegedly shot Castro to death with a caliber .45 pistol while Dignadice succumbed to gunshot wounds inflicted by Vincent who used Castro’s caliber .38 revolver.
Vincent and Joseph were rushed to the hospital after the incident but the latter succumbed to a gunshot wound in the back September 3.
An old grudge between Oyok Ramirez and Bebing Castro is believed to be the cause of the shootout.
Castro’s family said the incident could have been prevented if the Ajuy police headed by Chief Insp. Ariel Artillero arrested Ramirez for lugging a 12-gauge shotgun sans any permit to carry.
Ramirez’s wife is a relative of Board Member Jett Rojas while the Castros are identified with businessman Vicente “Etik” Espinosa.
Espinosa was tagged as the mastermind in the assassination of former Ajuy vice mayor Ramon Rojas.
The Castro family had asked the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation through Department of Justice to include Ramirez in its watch list to monitor the latter’s movement should he leave the country.
scrimgeour
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