Palace confirms suspension of Abra exec

Malacañang on Saturday confirmed the suspension of Abra Vice Governor Maria Jocelyn Valera-Bernos for ordering a hospital lockdown during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, when she served as the province’s governor.

“Yes,” Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin told reporters when asked if to confirm the order of suspension. 

Valera-Bernos, in her statement issued on 22 August, criticized the 18-month suspension imposed by the Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs under the Office of the President.

“I was the governor of the province at that time when Seares Hospital filed a complaint at the Office of the Ombudsman against me and other provincial officials for a decision I made for the sole purpose of ensuring the safety of all Abreños from the threats of Covid-19,” she said, lamenting that the ordering the hospital’s closure was “intended for disinfection and sanitation” to prevent further spread of Covid-19 in the province. 

Valera-Bernos said no specific hospital was targeted at that time “but a necessary and immediate action to mitigate the probable spread of the virus when at that time no known control and vaccine were available.”

She noted that the Office of the Ombudsman dismissed the complaint on 4 May 2022 and ruled that her actions “were done in good faith and within the bounds of my duty as a public servant during a state of calamity.”