By Darryl John Esguerra
MANILA – Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin has defended the suspension of Abra Governor Dominic Valera and his daughter, Vice Governor Maria Jocelyn Valera-Bernos, saying the orders were in line with existing laws and not arbitrary decisions.
Bersamin made the remarks after the Valera family supposedly appealed to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to intervene in the ongoing political rift in Abra.
“I am not personally aware of the appeal to the President. If there is one, the Valeras should accept that there is a process ongoing and they have been suspended in accordance with pre-existing (not whimsical) rules,” he said.
Malacañang placed Valera under preventive suspension for 60 days for violating the Local Government Code.
The decision stemmed from a complaint filed last year against Valera and his daughter by Febes Palcon, spouse of Bucay town councilor Juan Palcon, who succumbed to an illness in 2023.
Palcon claimed that Valera and his daughter violated the Local Government Code when they installed another person to replace her husband, even when the law provides that the party of the deceased member should name a replacement.
Meanwhile, Bernos was suspended for 18 months after being found guilty of oppression, abuse of authority, conduct unbecoming of a public official, and disobedience to government policies related to the imposition of a community lockdown that affected hospital services during the pandemic in 2020.
While father and daughter have denied the accusations, Bersamin said the preventive suspension was in accordance with legal procedures designed to prevent the governor from influencing witnesses during the ongoing investigation.
“The vice governor earlier resorted to judicial remedy, but her resort failed because of her own blunder,” Bersamin said.
“It is time for the Valeras to man up. They have been unchecked for a long time because of their money and illegal use of influence. Now is the time for justice to be meted [out] in favor of the people they have aggrieved for a long time. Accountability is at last staring them in the face.” (PNA)
