Catanduanes governor ‘vindicated’ as OMB suspends Vice Gov, all SP members

CATANDUANES Governor Patrick Alain Azanza has proven to his critics that he is not engaging in politics but is pushing for transparency and good governance after the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) find merits in the complaints he filed and ordered the preventive suspension for 6-months without pay of the entire members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Catanduanes headed by Vice Governor Robert Fernandez.

In a statement released on May 29, the OMB said it issued the preventive suspension of Fernandez and his fellow SP officials on May 22.

The suspension stemmed from a complaint filed by Governor Azanza over alleged irregularities in the proper utilization and allocation of P30.5 million of the province’s QRF or ‘Quick Response Fund’ following the onslaught of Super Typhoon “Uwan” in November 2025.

Pinoy Exposé is among the first media outlets to report on the filing of Gov. Azanza’s complaint to the Ombudsman last December 9 (Pinoy Exposé, January 1, 2026).

The complaint is for grave misconduct, grave abuse of authority and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service allegedly committed by the respondents to the prejudice of typhoon victims.

The OMB noted that the respondents, acting as the Sangguniang Panlalawigan or SP, revised the PDRRMC or the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council’s proposed utilization and allocation of the QRF and moved to use over P26M for cash assistance instead of goods.

Governor Azanza vetoed the SP ordinance citing the DBM-DILG-NDRRMC Joint Circular 2013-1 which does not include cash assistance among the allowable immediate response activities.

Azanza further stressed that the respondents’ acts delayed the utilization of the QRF and further impeded the provincial government from addressing the urgent needs of the more than 39,000 families victimized by the disaster.

Cited also in Azanza’s complaint are other collective acts of the respondents including the deferment of the request for authority to enter into a Memorandum of Agreement with the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development or DHSUD for provisions of construction materials for Super Typhoon Uwan victims.

The respondents allegedly also caused delays in the enactment of budget appropriations for fiscal year 2026 and also issued a resolution in January declaring Governor Azanza as Persona Non Grata in the province.

Suspended with Fernandez are Sangguniang Panlalawigan members Josevan Balidoy, Giovanni Balmadrid, Jose Romeo Francisco, Alvin Rodriguez, Edwin Tanael, Lorenzo Templonuevo Jr., Arnel Turado, Dean Roberto Vergara, Tito Villamor, Santos Zafe and Rafael Zuniega.

As Pinoy Exposé reported, Azanza is a neophyte in politics and considered the ‘Lone Ranger’ pushing for reforms in the province and went on to beat Vice Governor Peter ‘Boss Te’ Cua in the 2025 midterm polls.

The Chua-Cua dynasty has been lording over Catanduanes’ politics for more than two decades before Azanza, former president of the Catanduanes State University, decided to throw his hat in the political ring.

The OMB order also stated “that there is strong evidence showing their (respondents) guilt” for the accusattions raised by Governor Azanza in his complaint.

The suspension order was issued as “their continued stay in office may prejudice the investigation of the case filed against them.”

Moreover, the order stated that the suspension was warranted as “there is a need to preserve the documents and evidence pertaining to this case which they may have control and custody” and to prevent “further commission of malfeasance and/or misfeasance in office.”

Under the terms of the order, respondents are placed under suspension without pay for a period not to exceed six months, pending the final termination of the administrative adjudication of their case.