ALL the Misamis Oriental Sangguniang Panlalawigan members during their session Monday (August 8), including lone opposition member Princess Emano, unanimously trashed the appointment of lawyer Angel Lim as the province’s legal officer.
This, after SP member Dexter Yasay was able to convince all his colleagues present to pass the resolution disapproving the appointment.
In a four-page argument translated into a speech of around 15 minutes long, Yasay outlined what he called the many lapses that Lim had committed between July to the present while his concurrence was still being considered.
Yasay alleged that Lim already committed misrepresentation in the submission of his personal data sheet alone.
The former mayor from Opol said that Lim provided contradictory answers in his personal data sheet.
“Atty. Lim listed his (current) work experiences (apart from being the appointed legal officer) in item 28. (Yet) he answered no when asked if he has been separated from the service through resignation, retirement, dropped from the rolls, dismissal, termination, end of term, finished contract or phased out in the public or private sector,” Yasay said.
Yasay also quoted provincial human resources management officer Jocelyn Mateo during an earlier committee hearing as stating that Lim has yet to submit his neuro-psychological exam result, NBI clearance and medical exam results.
“Considering that Atty. Lim is a lawyer with a master’s degree in law, he should exercise prudence in making entries in an official public document,” Yasay further said.
Yasay also chastised Lim for failing to advise the administration of Gov. Juliette Uy on its alleged practice of interviewing regular employees as late as 10:00 p.m. before releasing their salaries.
“Daghan nang mga regular nga empleyado nga nag-complain kanako. Ang uban lagyo pa kaayo og ulian tungod kay didto sila na-assign sama sa Magsaysay. Maghulat tawon sa ilang turno nga interviewhon usa i-release ang ilang suweldo. Luoy kaayo, walay panihapon,” Yasay said.
During their plenary session Monday, Yasay also presented a radio station’s pub graphic quoting Lim as welcoming a fist fight with the board member.
“Such act is unbecoming of a government employee, let alone the provincial legal officer. I call on the local chapter of the IBP to check this kind of behavior,” Yasay said.
In an earlier interview with another radio station, Lim downplayed the Sangguniang Panlalawigan’s concurrence and said it is merely ministerial in nature as long as the applicant is a qualified lawyer and has practiced the profession for more than five years already.
But Yasay quoted DILG provincial director Marisia Naybe as saying that it is explicitly stated in the Local Government Code that a department head must be concurred by the majority of the local Sanggunian.
