Ombudsman junks raps vs Caloocan mayor, 3 execs

MANILA, Philippines - The Office of the Ombudsman announced yesterday the dismissal of a graft case against Caloocan Mayor Enrico Echiverri for insufficiency of evidence.

Three other city officials – City Treasurer Evelina Garma, City Budget Officer Jesusa Garcia and City Accountant Edna Centeno – were also cleared of the charges stemming from alleged non-remittance of employees’ premium contributions to the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales junked the case filed by Vice Mayor Edgar Erice last year after finding “no substantial evidence to hold respondents either administratively or criminally liable.”

In a 29-page joint resolution dated March 6, she also ordered that the preventive suspension order issued against Echiverri and his appointed officials be lifted.

Erice accused the respondents of violating the GSIS Act of 1997 and Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. He also accused Echiverri and the latter’s officials of grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.

The charges resulted in the issuance of preventive suspension order last year, which was never implemented because of temporary restraining orders issued by the Court of Appeals and the Caloocan City regional trial court.

Erice based his complaint on a letter sent by GSIS president and general manager Robert Vergara alleging that employee and city government premium contributions from July 1997 to December 2002, and from January 2007 to Dec. 31, 2010 remained unpaid.

But after reviewing the circumstances surrounding the case, the Ombudsman stated that Erice failed to prove that the respondents’ actions “were attended with manifest corruption, clear intent to violate the law or flagrant disregard of established rule.”

Morales ruled that Echiverri and his officials could not be held liable for graft because the non-remitted premiums pertained to contributions that should have been settled during the term of his predecessor, former mayor Reynaldo Malonzo.

She also said Echiverri, based on records, had “taken steps to ensure the prompt payment of the city’s current premium contributions and to update its remittances to the GSIS.”

Graft probers noted that his efforts were hindered by conflicting GSIS computations of the city government’s accounts.

Morales said “the city was assessed to pay more than P300 million as of Dec. 31, 2010. At the time Echiverri signed the GSIS memorandum of agreement, however, the city government was liable for only P15,786,039.87, representing the principal, and P54,807,170.63, representing interest, for a total of around P70 million.”