THE office of the mayor and the Sangguniang Bayan of Antequera are in disarray and disagreement over the appointment of the municipal agriculturist, which, according to Kagawad Edwin Pilongo Cuenca, is an optional position.
The quarrel arose from the disapproval or for not concurring the appointment of Juanito Napitan Jr. as the municipal agriculturist.
According to Cuenca, the disapproval was prompted based on Civil Service Commission Memorandum circular No. 24, series of 2017.
He cited “Section 107. An appointment shall be disapproved/invalidated on the following grounds: paragraph (f) The appointment has been issued in violation of existing Civil Service Law, rules and regulations, the Board/Bar, Local Government Code of 1991, Publication Law, the Omnibus Election Code and other pertinent laws” of the said CSC, MC No. 24, series of 2017 Omnibus Rules on Appointments and Other Human Resource Actions (ORA OHRA), RULE XI, DISAPPROVAL/INVALIDATION AND RECALL OF APPROVAL/VALIDATION OF APPOINTMENTS.
He opined that the “majority honestly believed that the appointment of Napitan Jr. is in violation of existing Civil Service Law, rules and regulations, particularly CSC, MC No. 12, series of 2022, in Section 5 wherein LGU should have created first all the mandatory positions, filled it up and with corresponding budget allocation before it creates and fills up optional position like MA.
Hence, the approval of Napitan Jr’s appointment as municipal agriculturist “has now become a question of law.” He suggested that the aggrieved party (Napitan) has the right to file a complaint before the CSC to resolve the issue on the conflict of laws and ultimately resolve on the legality of non-concurrence by the majority.
But this may not be what those who supported Napitan’s appointment by Mayor Mario Pahang has allegedly in mind. They instead threatened those (majority) who did not concur the said appointment of legal suit before the office of the ombudsman.
Cuenca cited the reiteration of the affirmative votes for Napitan’s appointment by councilors Atty. Natnat Pame and ABC Pres. Jokid Barrera during the session on May 20, 2024.
At the same time, the councilors who supported Napitan allegedly accused the majority, who voted against Napitan’s appointment, of abuse of authority for failure to concur the said appointment.
Based on law, all appointments of head of office/department head made by the local chief executives (LCE) of every local government units (LGU) must be ratified or concurred by the majority of the legislative body.
Cuenca suggested that a solution may be reached for the LCE to first fill-up the vacant positions, allocate budget for those mandatory positions, only then that the optional positions follow.
“Kini nga suhestyon paborable kaayo sa naglingkod karon nga Mayor kay mas daghan pa iyang mapasulod nga kaalyado niya, he said. (This suggestion is favorable for the mayor since he has many allies). (rvo)
