GAPO DAD SUSPENDED FOR SEX HARASMENT
AN OLONGAPO City Councilor was meted six-monthm suspension by the Office of the President for alleged sexual harasment.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita suspended Councilor Noel Atienza after finding him liable for violating Sec. 4c of RA 6713 (Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees) in relation to Section 60h of the Local Government Code.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government had recommended Atienza's suspension after it conducted investigation of the case filed by a city hall employee whose name was withheld. The complainant said that at 6 p.m. on Nov. 11,2004, City Vice Mayor Rolen Paulino to talk to his driver.
He said somebody had answered the phone and introduced himself as Noel,whom the complainant assumed was a staff of the vice mayor. She said the person on the other line allegedly uttered lewd remarks on her. The next day, the complainant said, she confronted a certain Noel, who answered the phone as he had gone home early.
The complainant said Atienza's staff had admitted it was his boss who took her call. The lady employee said it was not the first time Atienza had made lewd remarks on her. She said in several intances and in the presence of the other employees, Atienza would tell her that her lips were kissable. She said the councilor had even offered to live with her.
The city councilor, she said, would also hold her hands against her will. During an investigation conducted by the DILG, the councilor denied the allegations leveled against him, saying they were concocted "to destroy my integrity and credibility."
After studying the case, however, Ermita said they were left with no other option but to find the councilor liable and to remind him that as public servant, "the notion of a public office is public trust and that he should at all times be accountable to the people." "This office could not be oblivious of the testimonies of the complainant's other witnesses such as erstwhile City Councilor of Olongapo City, Tedoro del Rosario, and a certain Haydee Manuel, an alleged paramour of the respondent, for their straightforward declarations which unfortunately, were not properly rebutted by Councilor Atienza," the decision read.
Ermita furthersaid they could not understand the respondent's behavior when he committed the acts imputed against him as he is a lawyer and the chairman of the council's committee on laws, complaints, investigation and human rights protection. People's Tonite
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita suspended Councilor Noel Atienza after finding him liable for violating Sec. 4c of RA 6713 (Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees) in relation to Section 60h of the Local Government Code.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government had recommended Atienza's suspension after it conducted investigation of the case filed by a city hall employee whose name was withheld. The complainant said that at 6 p.m. on Nov. 11,2004, City Vice Mayor Rolen Paulino to talk to his driver.
He said somebody had answered the phone and introduced himself as Noel,whom the complainant assumed was a staff of the vice mayor. She said the person on the other line allegedly uttered lewd remarks on her. The next day, the complainant said, she confronted a certain Noel, who answered the phone as he had gone home early.
The complainant said Atienza's staff had admitted it was his boss who took her call. The lady employee said it was not the first time Atienza had made lewd remarks on her. She said in several intances and in the presence of the other employees, Atienza would tell her that her lips were kissable. She said the councilor had even offered to live with her.
The city councilor, she said, would also hold her hands against her will. During an investigation conducted by the DILG, the councilor denied the allegations leveled against him, saying they were concocted "to destroy my integrity and credibility."
After studying the case, however, Ermita said they were left with no other option but to find the councilor liable and to remind him that as public servant, "the notion of a public office is public trust and that he should at all times be accountable to the people." "This office could not be oblivious of the testimonies of the complainant's other witnesses such as erstwhile City Councilor of Olongapo City, Tedoro del Rosario, and a certain Haydee Manuel, an alleged paramour of the respondent, for their straightforward declarations which unfortunately, were not properly rebutted by Councilor Atienza," the decision read.
Ermita furthersaid they could not understand the respondent's behavior when he committed the acts imputed against him as he is a lawyer and the chairman of the council's committee on laws, complaints, investigation and human rights protection. People's Tonite
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