Roderick Paulate
MANILA, Philippines—The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the conduct of a formal investigation on former comedian turned councilor Roderick Paulate and another councilor in connection with allegations that they have included “ghost employees” in the payroll of the Quezon City council.
Facing preliminary investigation for possible malversation of public funds through falsification of public documents, violation of section 3(e) of Republic Act No. 3019, grave misconduct, serious dishonesty and falsification of official documents are Paulate and Francisco A. Calalay Jr., as well as their respective liaison officers Flordeliza A. Alvarez and Vicente E. Bajamunde.
The Ombudsman, through the Field Investigation Office (FIO), recommended the conduct of an investigation after evaluating the complaint filed by a certain Jimmy Lee Davis through counsel former senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr.
Based on FIO investigation, the two councilors maintained “job order personnel” under their respective offices, which turned out to be fictitious persons.
These fictitious personnel received monthly wages ranging from P2, 500 to P5,000. Investigations disclosed that these fictitious personnel do not have birth records from the National Statistics Office, are not registered voters of Quezon City, have secured NBI clearances, and are not known in their respective barangays (villages) where they allegedly reside or the indicated barangay addresses where they purportedly reside do not exist.
For the period January to November 2010, Councilor Calalay maintained a total of 29 ghost employees, while Councilor Paulate maintained 30 ghost employees for the period July 2010 to November 2010.
A total of P2,175,000 in wages was 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.
The said officials will be required to submit a counter-affidavit to dispute the allegations against them.