Abra governor Dominic Valera has been put in preventive suspension by Malacañang for a violation of the Local Government Code of 1991.
Valera was suspended for 60 days after the palace ruled in favor of a complainant who filed violation charges against both him and his daughter, Abra vice governor Maria Valera-Bernos.
The complaint, filed in 2023 by Febes Alzate Palcon, stemmed from an unlawful political appointment Valera conducted that year.
Palcon, spouse to the former and late Bucay town councilor Juan Palcon, filed the charges as Valera appointed a replacement to Juan Palcon after he died of illness, leaving the council seat vacant.
According to the Local Government Code, Juan Palcon’s replacement should have been selected by the political party he is part of, but Valera instead appointed another individual when Febes Palcon was selected by the National Unity Party to be his replacement.
The Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs (DESLA) of the Office of the President sided with Palcon and suspended Valera.
Valera-Bernos was also facing suspensions from the charges but the DESLA ruled in its order that she does not need to receive the same penalties as she is already serving an 18-month preventive suspension from an earlier charge of abuse of authority.
