BAGUIO CITY – The Office of the Ombudsman belied earlier reports that Office of the Civil Defense – Cordillera Administrative Region (OCD-CAR) regional director Andrew Alex Uy has been charged with graft, saying that no criminal or administrative charges has been filed against him.
In a clearance issued by Graft Investigation Officer Julito Ramo, Uy was cleared of the administrative and criminal charges being alleged against him after their records bore no records of any graft charges that were filed against him over the past several years of his being chief of the OCD-CAR.
The clearance was in response to an alleged complaint filed against Uy by Rex Manuel and earlier reported by various local media outfits.
Uy was constrained to seek the clearance of the Ombudsman after he learned of the charges filed against him in the media without him being provided a copy of such complaint.
“All claims in the alleged complaint are mere fabrications and purely baseless. The complainant’s wild conclusions are coming out of a hodge-podge of allegations that is evidently based solely on Mr. Manuel’s imagination,” Uy said in his latest statement circulated in the local media.
“Let me stress that Mr. Manuel resigned as contractual employee of OCD in November 2012. He filed his alleged complaint on December 22, 2014. These give rise to the following questions: Why did it take him more than two (2) years to file the alleged complaint? What is the motive behind his giving copies of his alleged complaint to all media outfits in Baguio City ahead of whatever possible action or actions that the Ombudsman may take on the complaint, if it was indeed filed,” Uy added.
The OCD-CAR chief claimed Manuel’s actions are clearly to tarnish his reputation and that he is a disgruntled former employee with “an unfortunate history of filing complaints against his former bosses and associates.”
“Working in public service with my responsibility as the OCD-CAR Regional Director and as the Chairperson of the Cordillera RDRRMC is very difficult and challenging. Under my leadership, we have done adjustments in our strategies, partnerships and accomplishments, which is why we are now making a difference in Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) in the region,” Uy stressed.
However, looking at the disaster risk level of the region, the disaster official pointed out there are still a lot of things to be done, citing that manifestation of crab mentality, such as the filing of the alleged complaint, will never pull us down nor would they affect our performance as the primary agency in DRRM.
Uy said OCD-CAR will continue to serve the Cordillerans in their efforts to achieve a “safer, adaptive, and disaster-resilient region towards sustainable development.”
He appealed to his detractors to refraim from continuously maligning his personality and for various sectors to effectively and efficiently contribute in disaster risk reduction and management for the realization of zero casualty in the region during the onslaught of natural calamities in the future.
By Dexter A. See
