By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Valladolid Vice Mayor Rommel Yogore and seven other town employees were formally dismissed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), after serving their dismissal order from the Office of the Ombudsman, yesterday.
Atty. Anthony Nuyda, DILG director for Negros Island Region (NIR), said they served the dismissal order, signed by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales in January of this year, which found Yogore and the seven employees guilty of grave misconduct and dishonesty.
The other employees included Valladolid Agriculture Officer Giovanni Robles, along with Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) members Joseph Alfonso Manayon, Ernesto Genobis, Daisy Galve, Cherryl Aquirre, Merlene Magbanua, and Ramonito Amazona.
The case stemmed from a complaint in which Yogore reportedly awarded a contract without undergoing the proper bidding process in 2009.
He was also accused of buying rice grains without the authority of the town council.
Aside from dismissal, they are also subject to perpetual disqualification from holding public office./WDJ