By Tara Yap

According to Iloilo Chief Provincial Legal Officer, Atty. Dennis Ventilacion, the nine Iloilo Provincial Capitol officials who were suspended for three months on the grounds of grave misconduct have already served their punishments, following its implementation back in August 2016.
Ventilacion said he wished to clarify the report that was posted by the Office of the Ombudsman earlier this week.
However, the April 18 report claimed the Ombudsman directed the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to implement the suspension, which the legal officer said is “irrelevant” since the suspensions were already served.
He said the Ombudsman may have released the news following the group’s motion for reconsideration was denied.
Provincial Accountant Lyd Tupas, Assistant Provincial Accountant Sandra Bionat, along with Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) members Ramie Salcedo, Corazon Beloria, Edgar Sumido, Romeo Andig, Glenda Losanta, Antonio Muralla, and Julius Tidon were suspended following the procurement of P5.3 million worth of medicine and medical supplies in 2010.
According to the Ombudsman, the acquisition, supposedly for survivors of Typhoon Frank, did not go through a public bidding process, adding they found “no logical reason” to the argument since the storm occurred back in 2008./WDJ