Roderick Paulate, another QC councilor accused of maintaining 'ghost employees'

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InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5

MANILA, Philippines  - The Office of the Ombudsman, through the Field Investigation Office, has filed criminal and administrative complaints against Quezon City councilors Roderick M. Paulate and Francisco A. Calalay, Jr. for maintaining "ghost employees" in the payroll of the Quezon City Council.

Acting on the complaint filed by Jimmy Lee Davis, the Ombudsman's FIO managed to obtain evidence showing Paulate and Calalay maintained "job order personnel" under their respective offices which turned out to be fictitious persons.

Davis, who is a whistleblower and a Quezon City resident, was assisted by his counsel former Sen. Aquilino "Nene" Pimentel, Jr. in filing the complaint.

The fictitious personnel allegedly received monthly wages ranging from P2,500 to P5,000.

Investigation showed that these fictitious personnel do not have birth records from the National Statistics Office, are not registered voters of Quezon City, have not secured National Bureau of Investigation clearances, and are not known in the respective barangays where they allegedly reside or the indicated Barangay-addresses where they purportedly reside do not exist.

For the period January to November 2010, Calalay maintained a total 29 ghost employees while Paulate maintained 30 ghost employees for the period July 2010 to November 2010.

A total of P2,175,000 in wages were disbursed by Calalay while Paulate disbursed a total of P1,125,000.

The disbursements of wages were made possible through the submission of spurious Personal Data Sheets and payrolls.

Charges of malversation of public funds through falsification of public documents, violation of Section 3(e) of Republic Act No. 3019, or the "Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act", and administrative charges for grave misconduct, serious dishonesty and falsification of official documents have been filed against Calalay and Paulate, together with their respective liaison officers in the persons of Flordeliza A. Alvarez and Vicente E. Bajamunde.

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