By CESAR JOLITO III

The former head of the Office of the Building Official (OBO) in the Bacolod City government is under investigation over serious allegations of irregularities and bribery involving the processing of an occupancy permit.

A show-cause order, issued by the office of the city mayor against OBO chief Engineer Isidro Sun on July 30, directed him to respond to accusations within 72 hours.

The order indicates that Sun allegedly bypassed standard procedures and solicited money in exchange for the expedited release of a building permit on June 30.

City Legal Officer Atty. Karol Joseph Chiu confirmed that an investigation is underway and assured that due process will be observed.

“We are committed to ensuring integrity in public service. Any abuse of authority will not be tolerated,” Chiu said.

If proven, the allegations could lead to administrative and criminal charges, including grave misconduct, serious dishonesty under the 2017 Rules on Administrative Cases in the Civil Service, as well as violation of Section 13 of Republic Act 11032, the Anti-Fixing provision of the Ease of Doing Business law.

A job order employee said Sun instructed him to approve and clear a business permit application for a commercial space in Barangay Mansilingan — even though the establishment lacked a valid certificate of occupancy.

The OBO incident report claimed the application did not follow the proper processing flow, including logbook entry and endorsement from the designated officer.

Instead, Sun allegedly inserted the application into the processing line himself and ordered the employee to approve it.

Furthermore, it is alleged that on June 28, Sun contacted an individual and demanded P13,000 in exchange for the release of the permit, eventually settling for P11,000.

The money was reportedly delivered to Sun two days later./CJ, WDJ