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| Mayor Feliciano Legazpi, MD. |
MALOLOS
CITY—Interior and Local Government officials led by Secretary Mar Roxas and
Central Luzon Director Florida Dijan were dared by the mayor of Norzagaray in
Bulacan to fix problems they caused.
Some
of the problems include lack of municipal fund especially for salary of
employees in the last two months, funds for operation of the municipal
government and continuing tension in town.
The
problems stemmed from suspension of Mayor Feliciano Legazpi based on the resolution
issued by the Ombudsman last November with regards abused of authority charge
filed by the Municipal Budget Officer Yolanda Ervas against the mayor.
“They
should come here and fix the problems they caused,” Legazpi said in a telephone
interview referring to Roxas and Dijan.
He
said that Dijan issued a suspension order for six month and one day against him
last December, but he never received a copy.
A
copy of the said order was secured by Vice Rogelio Santos who furnished the
Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) along with copy of his oath of office as
acting mayor.
As
a result, LBP stopped releasing Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) to the
Municipal Government of Norzagaray.
“We
cannot withdraw from our funds and our employees have not receive their salary
in more than two months, not to mention that we don’t have fund for the
delivery of social services,” Legazpi said.
He
insisted that order issued by Dijan last December is premature and stressed
that the Ombudsman decision allowed him for automatic appeal by filing a motion
for reconsideration.
Legazpi
also vowed that he will step down from office of the DILG will be able to prove
that he is already suspended.
He
also said that since the election period officially started last January, there
is a pre-existing order not to remove local officials from office.
“They
must not turn a deaf ear on us, they cause this problem and the people of
Norzagaray are suffering, they should be the ones to fix it,” Legazpi
stressed. Dino Balabo
