Erice: MOA between Caloocan, GSIS admission of mayor’s guilt

Caloocan City Vice Mayor Edgar Erice sees the signing of a memorandum of agreement between Mayor Enrico Echiverri and the Government Service Insurance System as a “vindication” of himself, and “an admission of guilt” on the part of the mayor.

The MOA, which was signed at the GSIS office in Pasay City on Friday, binds the city government to payment of more than P15 million—which represent unremitted GSIS premiums deducted from city hall employees—and their accumulated interest in a span of three years.

“The (signing of the MOA shows that) Mayor Echiverri has totally contradicted (his) previous claim …” Erice said in a statement.

He said that its execution was an “admission” of Echiverri’s “guilt,” since the mayor had earlier said that the city government had no obligation to the agency and that it had in fact overpaid by  more than P3 million.

Echiverri issued the statement in August, when he personally handed over a “reconciliation report” to GSIS President and General Manager Robert Vergara at the agency’s head office.

The report, Echiverri then said, showed that Caloocan had been up to date in its premium payments. The documents had allegedly been evaluated by a reconciliation team formed to determine the local government’s liability.

“It is quite apparent that the ploy of Mayor Echiverri … had miserably failed and he is finally pressured to do the proper thing. Unfortunately for him, his belated efforts will not exempt him from criminal and administrative liabilities,” Erice said.

In July, Erice accused the mayor, city treasurer Evelina Garma, budget officer Jesusa Garcia and city accountant Edna Centeno of failing to turn over to the agency the employees’ contributions amounting to more than P340 million.

Erice said that he would submit the MOA and the resolution to the Ombudsman to bolster the case he lodged in the Ombudsman against the four officials. Kristine Felisse Mangunay