Eight Antique board members suspended for one year

Eight board members from the province of Antique have been suspended for one year without pay. The suspension was ordered by the Office of the Ombudsman and took effect on Monday. The members affected are Egidio Elio, Rony Molina, Victor Condez, Alfie Jay Niquia, Mayella Mae Plameras-Ladislao, Plaridel Sanchez IV, Kenneth Dave Gasalao, and Julius Cezar Tajanlangit. The Ombudsman cited grave abuse of authority, grave misconduct, and conduct unbecoming of public officers as reasons for the suspension. The decision was based on the board members' actions in removing budget allocations for three solar projects from a proposed budget of over P1 billion for 2024. The Ombudsman stated that eliminating funding for these projects undermined the authority of the local chief executive. The ruling emphasized that providing zero funding is not a valid appropriation according to budget regulations. The provincial board failed to convene its regular session on Monday due to a lack of members present. Only Elio attended but left after learning about the suspension. Four other members were away at a convention in Manila. In a previous incident in August 2024, the same board members received a six-month preventive suspension for delaying the supplemental budget. They were later reinstated by a court order in November.