BY DAVE SUAN ALBARADO

DAUIS Vice Mayor Marie Nickie Bolos-Delgado was officially sworn in as mayor of Dauis on Friday morning (September 6, 2025), just one day after the Department of the Interior and Local Government directed her to assume office following the Ombudsman’s dismissal of Mayor Marietta T. Sumaylo.

Bolos-Delgado took her oath at 11:00 a.m. before Raul P. Barbarona, MCTC Dauis Presiding Judge. 

In a three-page memorandum dated September 1, 2025, the DILG 7 said that the office had verified through the DILG Field Office in Dauis that Mayor Sumaylo “duly received a copy of the aforementioned Ombudsman Decision on July 24, 2025.”

The DILG directive references the Ombudsman’s dispositive portion in the case “Antonio A. Sumobay vs. Marietta T. Sumaylo,” which found “substantial evidence to hold respondent MARIETTA TOCMO SUMAYLO administratively liable for GROSS NEGLECT OF DUTY.”

The Ombudsman imposed the penalty of “DISMISSAL FROM THE SERVICE with accessory penalties of cancellation of eligibility, perpetual disqualification from holding public office, bar from taking civil service examinations, and forfeiture of retirement benefits.”

DILG 7 Regional Director Leocadio Trovela noted that while a Petition for Certiorari and/or Prohibition was filed before the Court of Appeals, it “was accordingly dismissed, and that a copy was received by her counsel last August 27, 2025.”

The regional director invoked an updated DILG protocol, referencing a Department memorandum dated August 6, 2025, that provides “updated protocol for the Department’s actions concerning Ombudsman Decisions, Orders, or Resolutions.”

Citing Administrative Order No. 17’s Section 6 on “Rendition of decision,” the memorandum states that decisions “shall be served upon the parties and the head of the office or agency of which the respondent is an official” and that “upon approval, copies thereof shall be served upon the parties.”

The DILG directive concluded: “In this regard and by operation of law, please be advised and reminded to immediately assume the position and perform the duties and functions of the local chief executive of Dauis, Bohol, pursuant to Section 44 of the Republic Act No. 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991.”

Bolos-Delgado acted on the directive the following day, taking her oath in a ceremony that effectively ended the administrative uncertainty that had gripped the municipality since the Ombudsman’s February ruling.

However, even as Bolos-Delgado took her oath, dismissed Mayor Sumaylo’s legal counsel continued to dispute the implementation, arguing that the DILG lacks authority without a specific Ombudsman implementation order.

“There was no order coming from the Ombudsman or from Mayor Miriam to implement that decision,” said Atty. Popot Marapao during a DYRD radio interview conducted before the swearing-in ceremony. “If you read the memorandum from DILG, it only says ‘please be advised and reminded’ — meaning that is only an advisory or a reminder.”

Marapao contends that the Ombudsman must issue a separate implementation order, comparing it to court proceedings where decisions require writs of execution. 

“There are two distinct things,” he explained, citing precedent from another municipality where even a simple fine required a separate implementation order from the Ombudsman.

The attorney raised issues about the timing, noting a pending motion for reconsideration before the Ombudsman. 

“What if there will be a modification in the judgment or decision? Would the DILG also tell the vice mayor to relinquish being the mayor?” he asked.

Marapao argued that the DILG action could create administrative confusion. 

“Legally there might be two mayors there in the municipality of Dauis in the absence of an order coming from the DILG kicking out Mayor Miriam,” he said. 

“The order is only given to the vice mayor to assume office.”

The DILG memorandum was distributed to multiple offices, including Atty. Romeo P. Benitez of the Undersecretary for Internal, Legal and Legislative Affairs; Hon. Pilarita T. Lapitan of the Office of the Ombudsman; and several other government officials.

Section 44 of the Local Government Code, cited in the DILG directive, provides for succession in case of permanent vacancy in the office of the local chief executive, stating that the vice-mayor shall assume the position for the unexpired term.