Gov. Jubahib suspension order followed due process

PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. emphasized that the suspension order issued to Davao del Norte Governor Edwin Jubahib followed due process.

“We went through all the procedures, the proper procedures, before we came to the decision, before the DILG came to the decision of imposing a suspension,” Marcos told reporters on Friday afternoon (US time) in Washington, DC.

He expressed confidence about the decision to suspend Jubahib.

This is in response to the statement of President Rodrigo Duterte, who expressed his disapproval of the issuance of a preventive suspension order against the governor.

“I’ll send him all of the court records and all of the discussions about that. Matagal na yan. Some of these cases were filed before I took office. And so it’s taking close to two years because it went through the process. So I’m confident, let anybody investigate,” Marcos said, referring to Duterte.

Marcos admitted that he only learned about the cases about a year ago.

“I did not know that such a case existed. I learned about it a year ago as part of my briefer, my daily briefer. So I’m very sure we did all of, we went through, all of the checks and balances,” the president said.

The Office of the President (OP) recently ordered the 60-day suspension of Jubahib, which stemmed from a complaint dated November 24, 2022 filed by Board Member Orly Amit for grave abuse of authority and oppression in connection with last year’s barangay elections.

Duterte explained that the order directed towards Jubahib required an investigation to ascertain any wrongdoing on his part. He said the official should be informed of the grounds and given the right to respond before serving a preventive suspension order.   

The former president also said that the governor is a “victim of oppression.”

Meanwhile, when asked to react to Duterte’s statement that they might become political enemies following the decision to suspend the governor, Marcos said he does not consider the former president a political adversary.

“I don’t consider him a political enemy. It takes two to tango. I don’t consider him a political enemy,” Marcos said.

The president explained that he is more than willing to discuss with Duterte the legal basis of Jubahib’s suspension, saying that some of the cases against the suspended governor were already filed before he assumed office. 

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said in a statement that the OP found that the complaint sufficiently found grave abuse of authority and oppression on the part of Jubahib in connection with the recall of Amit’s service vehicle without legal basis.

“The issuance of the preventive suspension did not violate Gov. Jubahib’s right to due process,” he said. 

Jubahib, in a video message, said he would not step down as governor, citing that the suspension issued against him is unlawful. The governor also claimed he was not given enough time to explain his side in the case filed against him. RGL

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