TABUK CITY, Kalinga– Three frontliners formally charged Vice Mayor Bernard Glenn Dao-as before the Office of the Ombudsman for abuse of authority resulting to grave misconduct, conduct unbecoming of a public official, discrimination of health care workers, grave coercion and violation of the pertinent provisions of Republic Act (RA) 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act of 2020.
In an 11-page joint affidavit complaint, Roxanne Dalignoc Eng-op, a job order health worker; Robert Purugganan Bayangan, a casual employee of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) and Rogelio Dulipas Calsiyao, residents of Casigayan, Bulo and Cugawe, Cudal, Tabuk City alleged that Vice Mayor Dao-oas reportedly defied the health protocols that had been implemented in the checkpoint at Talaca when his vehicle passed by aside from having with him a passenger who is a personnel of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) from Bulacan who did not possess the pertinent travel documents.
Based on the affidavit complaint, at around 3AM of June 5, 2020, a white Fortuner with plate number AAG-8409 arrived in the checkpoint where the driver of the vehicle got off the same and presented to them their travel pass and health declaration forms.
However, Roxanne asked the driver how many persons were inside the vehicle where the latter answered that there were 4 of them, thus, she immediately requested for the travel pass of the 4th individual as only 3 persons were indicated in the travel pass that was handed to her by the driver.
When Roxanne asked the driver who was the 4th person, she was told that she is a BFP personnel from Bulacan and authorized person outside residence but she was alarmed that Bulacan was at that time a red area, thus, she politely requested for her travel documents and had to go to triaging process at the Agbannawag holding area.
As an established procedure, Roxanne requested that the occupants of the vehicle dis-embark to go through the checkpoint protocol and one of the passengers that alighted from the same was Vice Mayor Dao-as.
Roxanne talked to the vice mayor who was then wearing a mask and explained to him the protocol for those coming from red areas but the latter removed his mask to show him his face before placing it back.
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At this point, she claimed that Vice Mayor Dao-as allegedly started to get angry when she refused to make an exemption for the BFP personnel on board.
She admitted that she was taken aback by what the vice mayor said because as a city official, she expected him to be the first one to obey the checkpoint protocols as he knows how important it is to determine that all those entering the city be checked for the safety of the residents with no exemptions.
The job order employee insisted that they drop off the BFP personnel in Agbannawag for triaging so that the city’s medical personnel can assist her and for her to undergo quarantine at the Agbannawag area as per procedures Robert reportedly saw the conversation between Roxanne and Vice Mayor Dao-as and attested that she was not in any way rude as she was only explaining the protocols that need to be observed but he sensed that the vice mayor was starting to get agitated and angry.
While being escorted to the Agbannawag triage, the complainants claimed that the vice Mayor’s vehicle overtook Robert’s vehicle and sped off and did not pass through the triage area as required.
After several hours, the BFP personnel named Agnes Bangguiac was brought to the Agbannawag triage center when her relatives was contacted by the operations center.
On June 9, 2020, a post was made through the official facebook page of Vice Mayor Dao-as about how he was allegedly treated by the frontliners in the Talaca checkpoint criticizing the alleged abuses that had been committed against him and his companions.
Later, the complainants learned that the name of the BFP personnel was Kiezel Olive Dao-as, an alleged relative of the vice mayor whom he reportedly fetched from Bulacan on the way to the city, when she submitted the monitoring sheet that she filled up at the Talaca checkpoint contrary to the earlier identity that she gave that opens the opportunity for possible filing of dishonesty charges against her.
Roxanne asserted that she never forced the vice mayor and his companions to allegedly undress while at the checkpoint but what she requested from them is if they had extra shirts to use based on the established checkpoint rules for people to change their clothes in a secluded place in the area.
The complainants argued that the vice mayor’s alibi that it was already 3AM and he was very tired cannot hold water as what is being enforced are the established checkpoint protocols and that what was only required from them was to drop off the BFP personnel to the Agbannawag triage area because she did not have the required travel pass and health declaration and that they did not ask the vice mayor to stay in the area with the said personnel.
The complainants also raised the issue that the BFP personnel on board the vice mayor’s vehicle did not have a mission order or work order and that she was on vacation at that time, thus, she has to go to the protocol of submitting herself for testing and undergo quarantine at the barangay holding area.
For his part, Vice Mayor Dao-as claimed that he has yet to receive a subpoena on the aforesaid case that was filed against him and that he will make the proper response upon being provided with a copy of the compliant from which he will base his formal reply.
The vice mayor stood firm on what he posted in social media last June 9, 2020 that he and his companions were unfairly treated by the personnel manning the checkpoint and that they had a rude behaviour and even went to the extent of questioning the qualifications of the job order personnel manning the aforesaid checkpoint although the same was refuted by the complainants in their sworn affidavit.
By Hent
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