Unpaid PAG-IBIG, GSIS contributions: Ex-Abra town mayor, treasurer face charges before Sandigan

MANILA, Philippines - The Office of the Ombudsman yesterday ordered the filing of criminal charges before the Sandiganbayan against a former town mayor and municipal treasurer of Abra for failing to remit employees’ contributions to Pag-IBIG Fund and the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) in 2002 and 2003.

In a 15-page resolution, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales found probable cause to charge former mayor Lovelyn Domes-ag and municipal treasurer Dorinda Bumogas of Peñarrubia town for alleged underpayment or non-payment of employees’ contributions to the Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-IBIG Fund and the GSIS, including repeated failures to remit the exact or correct amount of contributions to the two agencies from July 1998 to June 2002 and January 2003 to June 2004.

Investigation revealed that from July 1998 to June 2006, only the contributions for July 2002 to December 2002 were accounted for.

The case stemmed from the complaint filed by Ruben Amboni and several others that their GSIS and Pag-IBIG contributions and loan amortizations due the Philippine National Bank (PNB) and the Rural Bank of Villaviciosa were regularly deducted from their salaries, but these were not fully or not remitted at all.

According to the complainants, they received demand letters from PNB and statements of accounts from GSIS and Pag-IBIG, but when they brought this matter up to Domes-ag and Bumogas, the two officials refused to explain where their deducted contributions went to.

During Domes-ag’s stint as Peñarrubia mayor (1998-2004), with Bumogas as municipal treasurer, GSIS contributions not fully paid or not remitted at all totaled P4,075,251.19, as reflected in the summary of social insurance contribution collectibles.