By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Negros Occidental Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer yesterday confirmed receiving a letter indicating the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas has ordered the Provincial Board to probe Ilog Municipal Councilor Mark Vargas following the receipt of a complaint pertaining to grave abuse of authority and misconduct allegations.
“I was surprised that the Ombudsman referred it to us,” the vice governor noted. “While it is legal, it should be them who should resolve the case.”
According to Ferrer, Board Member Sixto Guanzon, Jr., who chairs the Provincial Board Committee on Laws, and Board Member Araceli Somosa, who chairs the Provincial Board Committee on Good Governance, will conduct the investigation, which is scheduled to take place on December 27.
Ferrer noted, the case does not involve the official’s function and work as a public official but “a private transaction.”
During the investigation, both parties will be called to present their sides, he added./DGB, WDJ