By Francis Allan L. Angelo 

TWO Iloilo provincial officials traded barbs over reassignments and purported transfer of the media lounge to the old capitol building.

Marilou Sumbing, former Public Information Office (PIO) chief, said she has been transferred to the Provincial Tourism Office headed by Atty. Jonar Pueblo. Her transfer is contained in Reassignment Order No. 005.

While Gov. Niel Tupas Sr. issued the transfer order, Sumbing said Provincial Administrator Manuel Mejorada had a hand in her reassignment.

Sumbing claimed that four PIO personnel were also reassigned to the said office.

She said her assignment will result in the transfer of the media lounge from the second floor of the new capitol building to the third floor of the old building.

“We cannot even promise you if there will be a media lounge in the old capitol building because of space limitations,” Sumbing added.

Sumbing also claimed that the Hospital Operations Management Service will take over the PIO space in the new capitol.

Mejorada said Sumbing was lying regarding the transfer of the media lounge.

“The media lounge will stay in the new capitol building. We will put a round table in the PIO where we can have coffee and talk about issues in the provincial government,” Mejorada said in an interview with Aksyon Radyo.

Mejorada said he will serve as PIO head after Sumbing’s reassignment.

Sumbing and Mejorada had clashed before when the latter allegedly tried to use the P200,000 capital outlay allocated to the PIO.

Sumbing told Tupas about Mejorada’s move, prompting the latter to retain the money with the PIO.

Mejorada said Sumbing was transferred to the tourism office because of her sub par performance as PIO chief.