By: Jomarie A. Billones
ROXAS CITY, Capiz – The Commission on Election (Comelec) has dismissed the disqualification case filed against Roxas City Mayor Ronnie Dadivas and former Capiz Gov. Antonio del Rosario for lack of basis and merit.
The dismissal is contained in a decision promulgated on July 1, 2019 by the Comelec’s First Division through Presiding Commissioner Al A. Parreno.
Commissioners Ma. Rowena Amelia Guanzon and Marlon Casquejo concurred with the decision.
Earlier, Dadivas said the complaint filed by Essex Quintia before the Comelec was purely harassment wherein the credibility of the complainant himself is questionable.
“The disqualification filed against me and the governor are merely scraps of papers, purely harassment, unfounded allegations and malicious,” Dadivas said.
Dadivas defeated Rommel Lastimoso by 4,000 votes, while Del Rosario lost his re-election bid to Vice Gov. Esteban Evan “Nonoy” Contreras during the last election by 17,000 votes.
The case stemmed from del Rosario’s decision to hire Dadivas as head of the Gender and Development (GAD) office after the filing of the certificate of candidacies on Oct 12, 2018, in violation of Batasang Pambansa 881 of the Omnibus Election Code.
Dadivas, however, said that he can still be hired as contract of service or consultant after filing his Certificate of Candidacy (COC).
He said that there is no employee and employer relation between him and the provincial government.
Dadivas stressed that under the Omnibus Rules on Appointment and Other Personnel Action (Civil Service Memorandum Circular No. 40 series of 1998), services rendered under contract of service and job orders are not considered government service.
“Contracts do not have to be submitted to Civil Service for approval and there is no employee-employer relationship,” he said, adding that for the sake of delicadeza, he never renewed his contract with the provincial government.
Dadivas said that he will get back at Essex Quintia by filing charges and damages against the latter.
Quintia of Poblacion Ilaya Dao, Capiz filed the disqualification cases before the Comelec national office in Manila on Jan 14, 2019.
Dadivas used to be with the provincial legal office until he resigned when he filed his certificate of candidacy on October 25, 2018.
