PLO lawyer denies charges

By Dolly Yasa

 

BACOLOD City – A lawyer working at the Negros Occidental Provincial Legal Office denied accusations of unauthorized absences from office.

Ernie Magaspag is among the PLO staff who received a show cause order from Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz.

In his counter affidavit, Magaspag denied allegations that he incurred unauthorized absences and failed to report his actual work hours.

He said the complaint against him should be dismissed otherwise the provincial legal officer should also be made party to the case for signing his daily time records in October, November, and December 2019.

Magaspag said he was surprised that a formal complaint was issued against him by a former law partner (Diaz), which was based on an anonymous complaint allegedly from a businessman. He noted that the complaint was not even officially received by any office in the province.

The lawyer, who has been working as prosecuting attorney of the provincial government, said  his performance at the PLO from June to December 2019 was rated very   satisfactory as evidenced by the individual  performance and review signed by the provincial legal officer.

“It is therefore crystal clear that the actions of the provincial administrator clashes with the actions of my immediate superior,” Magaspag said.

He said he cannot recall any complaint against him or against the services rendered by the PLO until the show cause order issued by Diaz.

Magaspag noted that this is the first time that he heard of a show cause order issued by the provincial administrator instead of the provincial legal officer as mandated by the Local Government Code.

He also pointed out that the alleged anonymous complaint was dated Aug. 30, 2019, or almost a year ago, yet he did not receive any memorandum, warning, or official reminder from his immediate superior.