(UPDATE) A SUSPENDED official of the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) has filed graft and corruption and grave abuse of authority charges against the agency's chairman, Prospero de Vera 3rd, before the Office of the Ombudsman.

In a five-page complaint filed on Tuesday, CHEd Commissioner Aldrin Darilag accused de Vera of giving undue favor to a supplier, claiming that his superior had asked him to support the supplier even if the company was not qualified.

CHEd Chairman Prospero "Popy" De Vera. File Photo

"Respondent De Vera would like me to support Aspen as a supplier of CHED even though it did not comply with the requirements stipulated in Republic Act 9184, otherwise known as the procurement law. He even asked me to have a meeting with Aspen representatives, which I refused to do," Darilag's sworn statement read.

On Jan. 16, 2024, the Office of the President placed Darilag under preventive suspension for 90 days for alleged grave misconduct, neglect in the performance of his duties, and abuse of authority and oppression.

But Darilag claimed that he was not even given a copy of the complaints nor issued a show cause order in violation of his right to due process.

"I was not able to file any comment or counter-affidavit. This is a clear violation of my right to due process in respondent Prospero de Vera's attempt to railroad the case against me," he added.

On Feb. 5, 2024, Darilag said he filed a motion to remand the cases against him to the Ombudsman, which has the mandate to investigate such cases, but "to this date, there has been no resolution on my motion, and I still have to be given a copy of the complaints against me or [a] show cause order."

From then on, Darilag said, he was prohibited, on orders of the respondent, from entering the CHEd premises and interacting with officials and employees of the commission, adding that he was not allowed to take out his laptop and other personal property from the office.

He also said members of his office staff were prevented from performing any work related to his office and were subjected to needless inspection of their clothes and belongings every time they came out of the office.

"All this was the result of the directive of respondent CHEd Chairman Propero de Vera 3rd, who has been hostile to me throughout my stint as commissioner of CHEd," Darilag said.

"If given the chance, I can ably explain and refute the allegations against me," he said.

De Vera's actions, Darilag said, "constitute grave abuse of authority or oppression."

The complainant further said de Vera's hostility against him was not hard to discern because aside from rejecting his offer to support an unqualified CHEd contractor, "I opposed de Vera's decision of not permitting Biliran Province State University to open a Maritime Program for two valid reasons."

Furthermore, he said, de Vera also suspected him of telling Samar Rep. Raul Daza about his wrongdoing during budget hearings in Congress.

But in an earlier press statement, de Vera said the order to suspend and conduct an investigation against Darilag came from Malacañang following complaints against him.

De Vera noted that the preventive suspension is being imposed on Darilag so that he cannot use his office and position to influence the investigation, and due process can be observed.

He also assigned the 30 state universities and colleges where Darilag sits as chairman-designate of the Board of Regents to other commissioners to ensure the continuity of higher education programs and projects.

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