Complainant hails suspension of Urdaneta City officials

URDANETA CITY — To former Liga ng mga Barangay president Michael Brian Perez, the suspension from office of Mayor Julio Parayno III and Vice Mayor Jimmy Parayno was sweet victory.

"I was very happy that finally, my agony for more than two years, came to an end. Justice prevailed," Perez said in a telephone interview.

It was the administrative complaint of Perez before the Office of the President in October 2022 that resulted in the suspension of the Parayanos after they were found administratively liable for grave misconduct and grave abuse of authority.

They were suspended from office for six months for each offense, or a total of 12 months.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Regional Office 1 has been tasked to implement the suspension order.

A regional DILG legal office personnel who refused to be identified confirmed on Monday that the suspension order had been served to the Paraynos.

He, however, refused to give details, saying that the report has been submitted to the Office of the President.

Perez, whose term as punong barangay ended after the October 2023 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, recalled the humiliation and abuse that he suffered from the Paraynos as he fought to hold on to his position as Liga president and as member of the city council.

He said in a separate video interview that he had to pull a monoblock chair to their session hall and sit beside the desk that he used to occupy just to be recognized in the session.

But he said that despite his efforts to call the attention of the vice mayor, who was presiding over the session, he was ignored.

"It was as if I was not there. I felt I did not exist," Perez said.

Perez, whose father, Amadeo Perez IV was former mayor of this city, is now running for councilor.

The Paraynos could not be reached for comment.