Former National Irrigation Authority acting administrator Benny Antiporda is once again in hot water.

This as the Office of the Ombudsman found Antiporda guilty of subjecting one of his NIA staff members to "harassment" and "oppression" for questioning his policies and activities.

Back in November 2022, the Ombudsman also imposed a six-month preventive suspension without pay against Antiporda over an administrative complaint filed against him by several officers and employees of NIA.

Saying Antiporda showed "cruelty, severity, unlawful exaction, domination, or excessive use of authority," the Ombudsman slapped Antiporda with a one-year suspension without pay in the most recent case.

According to the Ombudsman, should Antiporda be separated from the service, he should still settle a penalty equivalent to his one-year salary in NIA.

The complaint against Antiporda arose from his posting a security detail, turning off the electricity in the complainant's office, breaching the flexi-time arrangement, and implementing an office lockdown without prior notice, among others.

"Government employees are supposed to be well-mannered, civil and considerate in their actuations, not only in their relations with the transacting public but also with their co-workers," the Ombudsman said in a decision dated 11 September but released only to reporters on Monday.