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Rodriguez, Rizal: The Provincial Board Members League of the
Philippines (PBMLP) Region 4 on Wednesday expressed their
disappointment with the intervention of the Office of the President
over the suspension of Rodriguez Mayor Pedro Cuerpo.
In a statement, the group said that the Palace
stay order “has chilling effects on local government units to
implement discipline in their respective provinces and
localities.”
“The intervention in a purely local government
matter is detrimental to the spirit of the Constitution and the
Local Government Code which advocates autonomy,” said the PBMLP
Region 4, which consists of Cavite, Laguna, Quezon, Batangas and
Rizal.
They also expressed their full support to the
Rizal Provincial Board “in the exercise of its quasi-judicial and
legislative functions” in connection with the operation and
regulation of the 19-hectare Rizal provincial landfill.
The League issued the resolution in the wake of
a stay order that directed the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Rizal to
cease and desist from implementing its suspension order against
Cuerpo pending resolution of the case against the Rodriguez mayor.
The group also said that the Rizal Provincial
Board suspended Cuerpo “pursuant to disciplinary measures provided
for in the Local Government Code, and said the six-month suspension
of Cuerpo “was well within the powers of the legislative body.”
“The Rizal Board suspended Cuerpo after the
Rodriguez mayor continued to implement municipal ordinances imposing
charges on Metro Manila haulers using the 19-hectare Rizal
provincial landfill despite a declaration by the said board that the
Cuerpo ordinance was invalid because the charges were “ultra vires”
or outside Cuerpo’s powers,” the group said in their resolution.
Earlier, the League of Provinces of the
Philippines also backed the move by the Rizal Board to slap a
punitive suspension against Cuerpo, saying the suspension is within
the ambit of the disciplinary powers of the provincial government as
provided for in the Local Government Code.
The Court of Appeals recently gave the Office of
the President 30 days to resolve Cuerpo’s case.
-- Ayesa Lubag
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