Losing Batangas pol no longer MMDA ‘consultant’

INQUIRER/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

A Batangas politician has withdrawn from being a “volunteer consultant” at the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) after questions arose about how he got that job despite the one-year ban on the appointment of defeated election candidates.

MMDA general manager Tim Orbos on Saturday said he had to let go of former Batangas Vice Gov. Mark Leviste, who since last year had been serving the agency as “a consultant on local government coordination and external relations.”

Orbos clarified that Leviste, who he said stopped working for the MMDA effective Thursday, was a “volunteer (who) was just helping out” under “a one-peso-a-year contract.”

“It’s not a perfected contract, which means (his appointment) has not been notarized,” Orbos said in an interview.

Leviste’s connection to the agency drew the attention of netizens when he posted photos on social media of recent MMDA activities, like the Metro Manila tour organized for Miss Universe contestants and the opening of a zipper or counterflow lane on Edsa last week.

Some of the online comments invoked the one-year ban and noted that both Orbos and Leviste were connected to the Liberal Party.

Orbos said he was aware that Leviste, who lost in the Batangas gubernatorial race in May 2016, could not be appointed to any government position for one year after the elections.

In November, Leviste went to his office to provide consultancy services pro bono, Orbos recalled. “We asked the opinion of the Ombudsman and Civil Service Commission and they said it was legal.”

“But he (has now) declined to continue his services to avoid problems,” he said. “I cannot question the motives of people who want to help. If they have  their own ambition, it is OK, as long as they help.”

Orbos said Leviste, a former press relations officer of the League of Vice Governors, would have been a great help in coordinating with local government units.

“I am not a politico and I need people to help me deal with the LGUs. Our hands are already full just handling the metro traffic so it is better that someone offers his help,” he said.