Taguig mayor faces plunder rap over alleged ghost employees

Taguig City Mayor Maria Laarni “Lani” Cayetano. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – A complaint for plunder has been filed against Taguig City Mayor Maria Laarni “Lani” Cayetano for allegedly having over 3,000 ghost employees in 2012.

Based on the complaint filed Roderick Vera, one of the convenors of the Philippine Association for the Advancement of Civil Liberties Inc., Cayetano allegedly hired 3,188 personnel to make it appear that aside from the Taguig’s plantilla or regular employees, Taguig had deployed 70 casual personnel per square kilometer or assigned casual personnel per 202 residents or 1 city paid information technology professional for every 600 residents.

These employees, according to Vera, were paid based only on written daily time sheets instead of the regularly used biometric machines.

“The ineluctable conclusion is that the 3,188 personnel or a majority thereof, are ‘ghost’ employees, with the purported salaries of these ‘ghost’ employees illegally used in the 2013 Elections where the respondents, the husband of Cayetano, Sen. Cayetano and her brother-in-law, Lino Edgardo Cayetano, were all candidates,” Vera said.

“The patent payments made to ‘ghost’ employees, as borne out by the records, clearly show that respondent Cayetano and the members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Taguig, conspired with one another to commit the despicable act to the serious damage and prejudice of the government in the amount of P313,249 million and should therefore be charged with plunder,” it added.

Aside from Cayetano, named respondents in the complaint are members of the Sangguniang Panglungsod—Ronette Franco, Aurelio Paolo Bartolome, Gamaliel San Pedro, Milagros Valencia, Roderick Carlos Papa, Estela Gasgonia, Baltazar Mariategue, Ricardo Jordan, Jaime Lagampa, Michelle Ann Gonzales, Carlito Ogalinola, Erwin Manalili, Edwin Eron, Jeffrey Morales, Rodil Marcelino and Rommel Tanyag.

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