The son of the embattled director of the Bohol Island State University Candijay Campus rose to the occasion the other day to defend his father from unjust accusations from school officials who sought for his transfer to another assignment. The well-coordinated maneuver to oust Arnulfo C. Olandria as campus director of the BISU in Cogtong, Candijay campus was nothing but an offshoot of the on-going political squabble in the municipality which shifted to high gear during the recent May 10 local elections. This was the statement issued last Friday by Olandria's son, Arnielo, as he came to the rescue of his beleaguered father who is the object of a petition allegedly signed by the deans and faculty members of the BISU campus in Candijay.

Aside from the petition calling for the immediate transfer of Olandria, the Sangguniang Bayan of Candijay and the Liga ng mg Barangay also passed similar resolutions addressed to the Commission on Higher Education (ChEd) and the BISU Board of Trustees through Pres. Elpidio Magante urging for his re-assignment. The young Olandria ran and won during the last elections as an opposition municipal councilor of Candijay under the ticket of lawyer Trigyv Olaivar, the rival candidate of re-elected Mayor Sergio Amora. At the height of the May 10 polls, he filed a disqualification case against Amora before the Commission on Elections (COMELEC). The poll body ordered Amora's disqualification days before the election but the town mayor managed to appeal the COMELEC ruling before the Court of Appeals. The disqualification case is expected to reach all the way to the Supreme Court.

ALL IN THE FAMILY

“At face value, Mayor Amora made it appear that there is a concerted move in our town to remove my father as campus director due to alleged irregularities and anomalies. But lest the BISU top officials and the public be misled, the Sangguniang Bayan is controlled by the Amoras, the mayor's wife, Fe, is the president of the Liga ng mga Barangay and all accusations against my father are rehash of old issues”, Arnielo pointed out. This explains why the SB and Liga resolutions urging the ChEd and BISU to re-assign his father are couched in exactly the same language and semantics except for a slight re-wording of its titles, he added. Vice-Mayor Rey Amora is the mayor's brother. Aside from the mayor's wife who sits in the SB as an ex-oficio member being the municipal Liga president, the mayor's son, Sergio III, is also an incumbent municipal councilor. Another councilor, Antonio Po, is the mayor's brother-in-law.

SPARE MY FATHER

“Because they cannot get back at me for any irregularity, except for the continued death threats, the Amoras are going after my father's neck if only to silence me in my pursuit for good governance in our town. They should spare my father from the dirty tricks of politics as he is a civil service career official”, the young Olandria said. Before Olaivar came into the picture as a mayoralty bet in the last elections, it was Arnielo who was bruited around by the political opposition of Candijay as Amora's challenger. As his name was floated as a possible mayoralty contender, Mayor Amora filed a complaint against the older Olandria with the BISU Board of Trustees raising exactly the same issues with that of the latest petition to have him removed as campus director of BISU in Candijay. Incidentally, Arnielo sits as a member of the BISU Board of Trustees in his capacity as president of the school's federated alumni association giving him access to matters taken up by the board. A fact-finding body, headed by Atty. Joel Zamora who is BISU's vice-president, was created by the BISU Board of Trustees to look into Amora's complaint against the older Olandria. In its meeting last Aug. 20, 2009 at the Bohol Tropics this city, the BISU Board of Trustees accepted the fact-finding body's recommendation even if Director Olandria was not given the opportunity to explain his side.

BOGUS SIGNATURES

Re-ignited by the disqualification case filed by the young Olandria against Mayor Amora, the move to re-assign Director Olandria leveled up, this time with the alleged petition by the deans and the faculty members of BISU, Candijay campus. Arnielo noted that the three-page petition was totally separate from the signature sheet which made him suspicious. While it appears that four deans and 20 academic and non-academic personnel signed the signature sheet, at least three came out in the open last week and executed affidavits, he disclosed. He said that one female non-academic personnel, in a sworn statement, claimed that her signature in the sheet supporting the petition was forged. Two teachers also claimed in separate affidavits that they signed the signature sheet as they were told by a co-teacher, who is a known ally of the town mayor, that it was to signify their intention to join a study tour.

OMBUDSMAN CASES

During the regular session of SB Candijay last Monday, Arnielo informed his colleagues that he filed both criminal and administrative charges against Vice Mayor Amora, Municipal Councilors Fe L. Amora, Sergio Amora III, Po and three other town kagawads for the passage of the resolution calling for the ouster of his father without giving the latter the opportunity to be heard. “Worse, you passed the resolution during our regular session last Aug. 9 when I was absent”, he exclaimed. When Vice-Mayor Amora sought for any reaction from the other SB members regarding Kag. Olandria's manifestations, not even a whimper was heard. The young Olandria also filed criminal and administrative charges against the mayor's wife and two other punong barangays appearing as the authors in the Liga resolution with almost exactly the same contents with that of the SB resolution. In his complaint to the Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas, Arnielo claimed that the acts of the respondents in passing the said resolutions were constitutive of the highest display of grave abuse of authority and gross misconduct.