Suspended, mayor still wed couples

FORMER Mayor Feliciano Legaspi of Norzagaray, Bulacan, has been indicted for usurpation of authority in the Sandiganbayan by the Office of the Ombudsman for officiating marriages while serving his suspension from office.

In a statement, the Ombudsman on Monday said it also approved the filing of criminal charges against Legaspi, former municipal treasurer Cristeta Esteban and ex-municipal accountant Manuel Marcial over their failure to remit on time the monthly contributions of municipal workers to the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).

In filing 40 counts of usurpation of authority against the former mayor, the antigraft body said Legaspi was suspended by the Ombudsman for six months from December 2012 to June 2013 after he was found guilty in an administrative case.

Despite this, the Ombudsman said Legaspi solemnized 39 marriages and issued a business permit during the period.

“During this period, [Legaspi] was barred from discharging his duties and responsibilities as municipal mayor,” read a portion of the Ombudsman’s 15-page resolution.

“The decision of the Ombudsman is immediately executory pending appeal and could not be stayed by the filing of an appeal or the issuance of an injunctive writ,” it added.

In a separate case, the Ombudsman said Legaspi should be held liable for violation of Section 52 of Republic Act No. 8291, or the GSIS Act, when the municipal government did not remit the insurance premiums of its personnel on time.

It said the GSIS remittances for November 2009 was turned over to the state-owned insurance agency only on February 2010.

The Ombudsman said the law mandates that all government agencies should pay the monthly GSIS remittances of their employees “within 30 days from the day the obligation falls due and demandable.”