By CESAR JOLITO III

The former head of the Office of the Building Official (OBO) in the Bacolod City government has denied accusations of extortion thrown against him after receiving a show-cause order from the city government.

In an interview, Engineer Isidro Sun, Jr. clarified that the allegation — involving a business owner supposedly paying him in exchange for the approval of an occupancy permit — is baseless.

Sun said he never received money amounting to P11,000.

He said he will formally respond to the show-cause order, which was issued by the Office of the City Mayor.

Sun also denied claims that he instructed a job order (JO) employee, the complainant in the case, to clear and approve the permit application, stating he had no authority over the personnel.

He was only involved in the site inspection process of a property in Barangay Mansilingan.

Sun explained that the property in question was an old house with portions being rented out, which, in his technical assessment, did not require a new building or occupancy permit, unlike other newly built structures in the area.

The former OBO chief said he simply forwarded his inspection report to the JO staff but had no further knowledge of how the application was processed.

“If there were any irregularities, the JO should have been issued the show-cause order, not me,” Sun argued.

He also questioned the lack of direct communication from the complainant, claiming that no one approached his office about the issue before the complaint surfaced.

Sun said it appeared the allegation was kept hidden until the show-cause order was served.

He is expected to submit his written explanation to the mayor’s office within the prescribed period as the investigation moves forward./CJ, WDJ