MANILA — Commissioner on Higher Education (CHED) officer-in-charge J. Prospero de Vera III clarified on Tuesday that they are not authorized to designate people to certain positions in the Commission.
This, after former CHED official Julito Vitriolo filed several complaints against de Vera and the Ombudsman regarding his suspension from executive directorship in the commission.
“I haven’t received the details of the charges but everything the Commission is doing is based on existing law, following due process, following the guidance of the Office of the President (OP) and the Office of the Ombudsman,” de Vera said.
De Vera said it is the OP, which appointed Cinderella Filipina Benitez-Haro as officer-in-charge and executive director and not the Commission.
“The power and prerogative to appoint an officer-in-charge and executive director rests exclusively in the OP so we don’t have power and authority to designate, we are just following the decisions and instructions of the OP and we request everyone to respect that decision,” he said.
On August 28, Vitriolo filed administrative and criminal complaints against de Vera for refusing to reinstate him to his post as executive director of the Commission based on the order of the Court of Appeals.
Vitriolo was suspended by the Office of the Ombudsman for grave misconduct over his failure to stop the diploma mill in a state college.
However, the Sandiganbayan recently dismissed the graft case filed against him. (Ma. Teresa Montemayor/PNA)
