First councilor Bernad-Gino Sepulveda assumed office as Borbon vice mayor on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, replacing Noel Dotillos following a dismissal order from the Office of the Ombudsman.
The Ombudsman dismissed Dotillos for grave misconduct after he repeatedly signed consultancy contracts for his wife without prior Municipal Council authorization, imposing permanent disqualification and forfeiture of retirement benefits.
Complainant Margarito Ornopia Jr. initiated the case over the unapproved hiring of Dr. Corazon Dotillos, while Dotillos also faces 10 counts of anti-graft violations in court related to the contracts.
THE town of Borbon in northern Cebu has a new vice mayor as of Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, after the Ombudsman ordered Noel Dotillos dismissed for signing his wife’s consultancy contracts without council approval.
The town’s first councilor, Bernad-Gino Sepulveda of the Bakud Party, formally assumed office after signing his certificate of assumption of office, in compliance with an order from the Office of the Ombudsman.
Dotillos won the vice mayor’s seat in the 2025 midterm elections, while his son, Nico, was elected mayor. Under Republic Act (RA) 7160, the Local Government Code of 1991, a permanent vacancy in the vice mayor’s office is filled by the highest-ranking member of the Municipal Council, making Sepulveda the successor.
The Ombudsman said in its decision, dated Oct. 15, 2025, and approved by Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla, that Dotillos committed a serious violation by repeatedly signing his wife’s contracts without authorization from the council.
How the case began
The case stemmed from a complaint filed by Margarito Ornopia Jr., barangay captain of Don Gregorio Antigua in Borbon.
Records show Dotillos hired his wife, Dr. Corazon Dotillos, the town’s former municipal health officer (MHO), as a consultant under a job order, or contract of service, at a rate of up to P3,500 per day.
Dr. Dotillos turned 65, the compulsory retirement age, in October 2021, and the Civil Service Commission (CSC) extended her service until October 2022. The Municipal Government kept hiring her through service contracts after that.
The dispute goes back to October 2020, when the Municipal Council passed a resolution endorsing Dr. Nestor Casas for the MHO post as Dr. Dotillos neared retirement.
Dotillos did not appoint Casas and hired his wife instead. In his counter-affidavit, he said the resolution endorsing Casas was falsified and that the P3,500 daily rate was actually low. He also argued that no other doctor would take the job and that the hiring fell within his sole authority as local chief executive.
Nepotism cleared
The Ombudsman cleared Dotillos of nepotism, saying consultant and physician positions were exempt from the ban on appointing relatives under civil service rules. The Administrative Code of 1987 and CSC rules exempt retired physicians hired as consultants from the ban on appointing relatives.
From Oct. 18, 2023, to Oct. 18, 2024, however, the Municipality continued to contract Dr. Dotillos without a resolution from the council. The Ombudsman considered this a clear violation of Section 22(c) of RA 7160, which requires prior council authorization before the mayor can sign a contract on behalf of the municipality.
Because it found no appropriations ordinance for consultancy services that could have served as an exception, the Ombudsman described the lack of authorization as a manifest intent to violate the law. It held that the deliberate violation constituted grave misconduct, which resulted in Dotillos’s dismissal and Sepulveda’s assumption.
Penalty
Aside from dismissal from service, the Ombudsman cancelled Dotillos’ civil service eligibility and ordered the forfeiture of his retirement benefits, except leave credits. He is also permanently barred from holding any government post or employment.
If dismissal can no longer be imposed because he is no longer in office, the penalty will be converted into a fine equivalent to one year of his salary as mayor, to be deducted from his accrued credits or salary.
Other cases
This is the second time the Ombudsman has ordered Dotillos removed. An earlier complaint by Emar Bascon Cuico led to a July 2025 dismissal order over a P570,000 anniversary bonus released in 2019 and a contract with his wife signed in April 2024.
The Court of Appeals reversed that order in February 2026, allowing Dotillos to return to office. It held that Municipal Council Resolution 186, passed on Oct. 7, 2024, effectively ratified his earlier lack of authority, and found no substantial evidence of corruption, although it urged him to be more circumspect.
The new decision covers the same April 2024 contract and the six-month contract before it, which ran from October 2023 to April 2024. Unlike the CA, the Ombudsman treats Resolution 186 as the authorization for the next contract, covering October 2024 to April 2025, rathern than a ratification of the earlier ones.
Dotillos also faces criminal charges. In June 2026, the Ombudsman filed two graft charges against him before the Regional Trial Court in Bogo City, Cebu, over the 2019 bonus and the 2024 contracting of his wife as a consultant.
In July, following Ornopia’s complaint, the Ombudsman found probable cause to charge Dotillos with 10 counts of violating RA 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, over the repeated hiring of his wife as a consultant after her retirement. These comprise five counts under Section 3(e) and five under Section 3(h), which penalizes public officials who intervene in contracts in which they have a direct or indirect financial interest.financial interest. / ANV