4th graft rap filed vs Caloocan mayor, 7 city execs over use of village funds

MANILA, Philippines—For the fourth time, Caloocan Vice Mayor Edgar Erice filed a formal complaint against Mayor Enrico Echiverri and seven other city officials for their alleged illegal use of barangay (village) -level funds for various contracts, including the payment of “overpriced” multicabs used in the city.

Erice lodged the complaint against the mayor, city administrator Russel Ramirez, secretary to the mayor Kristine Abustan, and city engineer Rolando Eduria at the Office of the Ombudsman around 10 a.m. on Wednesday.

Also included in the charge sheet were city treasurer Evelyn Garma, accountant Edna Centeno, general services officer Caroliza delos Santos and budget officer Jesusa Garcia.

The charges were filed a day after the Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Echiverri in another graft case filed by the vice mayor against him in July.

In a 13-page resolution, the appellate court’s Special 14th Division indefinitely prevented  the Office of the Ombudsman from implementing a suspension order it issued against Echiverri, who had been accused of failing to remit the city employees’ contributions to the Government Service Insurance System amounting to more than P300 million.

In his latest 26-page complaint, Erice accused the respondents of using, “without legal authority,” P116,220,230 that constituted a part of the barangay shares of the business taxes collected by the city government from 2005 to 2010, for the payment of 150 “overpriced” multicab units, insurance premiums and seminars.

Under Section 272 (b) of Ordinance No. 0386 s. 2004, or An Ordinance Enacting the Updated Caloocan City Revenue Code of 2004, the city’s 188 barangays are entitled to 10 percent of the business tax and miscellaneous tax collections.

In a letter to the executive director of the Bureau of Local Government of the Department of Finance, Erice said Garma admitted to using the P116.22 million in barangay funds to pay for the insurance premium of barangay officials in 2006 (P11,040,000); barangay seminars in 2006 (P18,770,230), 2007 (P17,860,000) and 2008 (P28,050,000); and the purchase of 150 units of multicabs in 2007 (P40,500,000).

Garma said in the letter that the business tax shares of the barangay were released based on the resolutions and ordinance approved by the City Council.

The vice mayor said the transactions were illegal because the barangay officials should have been allowed to exercise their “exclusive authority and discretion” over the use of the money, which allegedly already formed part of the barangay funds.

He said that that the City Council was limited only to the “review of the proposed barangay budget” to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Local Government Code.

“The shares of the barangay from the proceeds of the business tax…have become effective tools of coercion.  They have been deliberately withheld over the years to keep the barangay officials subservient to the will of the Echiverri administration. Only those who toe the line are given their share, which is contrary to the intent of the law,” Erice said.

Aside from allegedly violating the ordinance and other national laws, the vice mayor said that the mayor and his top officials should be held liable for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act when they purchased what he called “overpriced” multicab units.

One unit cost the government P270,000, while one of the same model and brand would cost only P165,000 at present, Erice said.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer tried to reach the mayor for comment, but calls and text messages to his cell phone, as of posting, were left unanswered.

Jun Paclibar, officer-in-charge of the Public Information Office, however, said that the respondents were ready to face the charges leveled against them.

He said that Erice’s moves were “obviously politically motivated,” considering the fact that the appellate court had just ruled in favor of the mayor in connection with the graft case Erice earlier filed against him.

He said that, as of press time, those from the legal department of Caloocan City were studying what legal action to take against the vice mayor.