By JEN BAYLON
Silay City Legal Officer Atty. Janus Jarder may face insubordination charges for failing to submit himself to the House of Representatives amid the hearing on the alleged irregularities surrounding a P1.1 billion loan procurement by the city government, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said.
During the hearing by the House Committee on Public Accounts yesterday, DILG in Negros Island Region Director Lailyn Ortiz said Jarder could be charged with insubordination through the Local Grievance Committee of the city government, as decided by Silay Mayor Joedith Gallego.
If he remains absent for over 30 days without reporting for duty — a timeline that has now reached 23 days — he may be officially declared absent without official leave, Ortiz said.
She emphasized that the Human Resources Office of the city government must issue a written directive ordering Jarder to report to work.
A show-cause order was issued against Jarder on January 21, but he has yet to respond.
He had previously been cited for contempt due to alleged dishonesty and evasion of critical questions during a committee hearing on December 18, 2024, led by Negros Occidental 3rd District Representative Joseph Stephen Paduano.
A contempt order was issued by the House of Representatives on January 6.
However, the serving attempt was unsuccessful as the legal officer was reportedly not at his residence.
While the committee report was being finalized, Jarder’s detention was lifted to allow him to spend the holidays with his family.
On January 2, Gallego issued a memorandum instructing Jarder to report to Congress for detention.
However, he failed to comply with this order.
The investigation into Silay City’s procurement practices has drawn significant public attention.
The P1.1 billion loan at the center of the controversy has been scrutinized for potential irregularities in its bidding and approval process.
In November last year, Paduano alleged that there were irregularities in the procurement process of infrastructure and other projects by the local government unit.
The projects in question are the Silay City College, the beautification of the Silay City Market, and the new city hall.
Paduano said it came to his attention that the city government had approved local measures that were allegedly laden with discrepancies, irregularities and evident partiality.
He added that some questions have allegedly arisen regarding transparency and lack of consultation with some groups for the projects.
During the congressional inquiry by the House committee on November 11, 2024, Gallego said there were no irregularities in the procurement process of the projects undertaken by the city government amounting to P1.4 billion.
Gallego denied Paduano’s statement that they entered into a P1.4 billion loan agreement with the two state-run banks.
According to the mayor, the city government has only a P1.1 billion loan agreement.
The mayor added that the previous administration was the one that proposed a P1 billion loan agreement for just one city government project./JB, WDJ