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THE Rizal Provincial Board announced on Wednesday that the Court of
Appeals upheld their decision to suspend Mayor Pedro Cuerpo of
Rodriguez for six months.
Rizal Board Member Dino Tanjuatco told The
Manila Times in a telephone interview that it would be up to the
appellate court and the Department of the Interior and Local
Government to resolve how the suspension would be served.
In a resolution, the board cited the July 28,
2008, decision by the appellate court upholding its move to slap the
preventive suspension on Cuerpo, saying this is a boost to the
principle of local autonomy and the authority of local governments
to discipline erring executives.
The appellate court said it recognizes that the
Rizal Provincial Board “has every right and interest to make sure
that its judgment, pursuant to the powers granted to it by the Local
Government Code, is executed.”
The court’s decision backed the move by the
Rizal Board to suspend Cuerpo after the latter insisted on
implementing municipal ordinances imposing development exaction fees
on garbage trucks using the 19-hectare Rizal Provincial Landfill.
The Rizal Board declared the ordinances null and
void since they are ultra vires or outside the powers of the
Rodriguez local government. The position of the Rizal Board was
twice upheld by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The court underscored that the Rizal Board “is
entrusted with the duty by the local government code to act on a
complaint against any elective official of a municipality.” The
complaint referred to was filed by several garbage haulers before
the Rizal Provincial board after the Rodriguez local government
insisted on collecting the fees that were declared null and void.
The court said the Rizal Board, under sections
60 and 61 of the Local Government Code, “is vested with
jurisdiction to discipline, remove or suspend a local elective
official for, among other things, misconduct in office.”
Rizal Board presiding officer and Vice Governor
Frisco San Juan Jr. said the appellate court ruling “proves that
the judiciary strongly supports the autonomy and authority of local
governments.” He said the appellate court decision “paves the
way towards the resolution of all issues pertaining to the
19-hectare Rizal Provincial landfill.”
The case started when Cuerpo was placed on a
six-month preventive suspension by the Rizal provincial government
for allegedly illegally raising taxes and fees for the use of
Rodriguez’s landfill that serve as dump for most of Metro
Manila’s garbage.
The Manila Times tried, but failed to get any
reaction from Cuerpo or his camp.
-- Francis Earl A. Cueto
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