After serving a nine-month suspension, Vice Governor Dionisio Balite assumed his post as the second highest ranking official in the province and rejoined the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) as the board’s presiding officer on Thursday.

Balite’s suspension officially ended on May 13 but he returned to office on Tuesday, a day after Election Day which was a special holiday.

The vice governor was welcomed by the SP members, and he, in turn, thanked the provincial lawmakers for the warm reception.

Meanwhile, Board Member Venzencio Arcamo returned to his post as senior SP member after serving as acting vice governor during Balite’s absence.

Balite was meted the suspension after he was charged with graft over an alleged irregular transaction involving the acquisition of a backhoe back in 2006 while he was still an SP member.

Last month, the charge against him and his co-accused was dropped by the Sandiganbayan Seventh Division after it determined that the case filed by the Office of the Ombudsman was “fatally defective.” (R. Tutas)