Ombudsman urged act on graft raps vs MWSS chief

MANILA, Philippines - The Office of the Ombudsman should act on the graft charges filed against Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System administrator Gerardo Esquivel last year, the MWSS employees’ union said yesterday.

In a statement, MWSS Labor Association president Napoleon Quinones said Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales should expedite the proceedings and issue a preventive suspension order against Esquivel and the board of trustees for the allegedly anomalous hiring of 40 consultants and 162 job order workers over the past two years despite a supposed moratorium on the hiring of additional personnel.

Quinones said it has been more than a year since he and lawyer Jeff Cadamon Sr. filed the graft complaint in June 2012.

“MWSS employees are demoralized. Esquivel and his board of trustees have withheld the benefits of regular employees, all the while engaging in a hiring spree of consultants,” he said.

“We appeal to the Ombudsman to act on our case expeditiously. The MWSS leadership has committed grave abuse of discretion and authority that is definitely not in step with the tuwid na daan (straight path) policy of the administration of President Aquino,” he added.

According to the complaint, the consultants – allegedly hired for various periods of service from February 2011 to May 2012 – received monthly salaries ranging from P5,000 to P400,000.

Quinones and Cadamon accused Esquivel and the board of trustees of irregularly disbursing P14.9 million in government funds to pay for the services of the consultants and job order personnel.

The complainants alleged that the MWSS officials violated Republic Act 9184, the government procurement law; Presidential Decree 1445, the government auditing code; RA 3019, the anti-graft and corrupt practices law and pertinent rules and regulations governing hiring of employees and consultants in government.

The MWSS board of trustees is composed of chairman Ramon Alikpala Jr, with Esquivel as the vice chairman, and members Emmanuel Caparas, Raoul Creencia, Hermogenes Fernando, Ma. Cecilia Soriano, Jose Ramon Villarin and Benjamin Yambao.