GMA wants ‘ghost employees’ out of government agencies

President Arroyo ordered yesterday government agencies to clean up their ranks and get rid of so-called "ghost employees" as part of the administration’s drive against graft and corruption.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, however, said the directive had nothing to do with the efforts of Malacañang to suspend Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay, Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado, and 16 city councilors over complaints of graft and corruption against them, including the hiring of fictitious or "ghost" City Hall workers.

Ermita issued a memorandum to Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. and Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno upon orders of Mrs. Arroyo.

"This (memo) is part of our anti-graft and corruption campaign and we don’t want to be accused of singling out anybody so everybody should be on their toes and clean up their own backyard because maintaining ghost employees is illegal and we will not tolerate such illegal acts," Ermita told reporters.

Binay, who has been spearheading efforts to oust the President, accused the Palace of singling out local executives identified with the opposition in its effort to silence critics.

The Makati mayor defied the suspension order and held a two-day vigil at the Makati City Hall together with his supporters.

The suspension order against Binay, however, was stopped after the Court of Appeals granted the embattled mayor’s petition for a temporary restraining order. The TRO ended the standoff.

In the memo, Andaya was "directed to review the table of organization, plantilla positions and conduct an audit of all personnel of all departments and agencies, including government-owned and controlled corporations with the end view of ferreting out ghost employees in their organizations if any."

Ermita said the memo was consistent with the strategic review and ongoing streamlining and rationalization of government agencies under Executive Order 366 issued by Mrs. Arroyo in 2004.

Puno was also directed to ensure that local government units comply with all laws, rules and regulations in the hiring of their employees, including the prohibition against the hiring of ghost employees.

The Palace ordered the two agencies to submit a report and recommendations to the Office of the President not later than Dec. 30.

Andaya said among the first thing he would do is to reconcile the lists of employees of agencies with the ones in his department. — Paolo Romero