Echiverri: I thought root of the problem already solved

Caloocan Mayor Enrico Echiverri admitted that he was surprised to hear about a recent Court of Appeals decision upholding a preventive suspension issued by the Ombudsman against him and three other city officials.

In a statement, Echiverri said that this was because the “root of the problem had already been resolved” when he personally submitted a report to Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) president Roberto Vergara in August, which reconciled the local government’s records of city hall employees paying premiums with those of the agency.

Echiverri said that earlier, “faulty records” saw city hall employees who have retired, resigned, died or transferred to other government offices still paying premiums.

In reality, the mayor added, the local government had overpaid the agency by around P3 million.

Echiverri’s statement was in reaction to the recent ruling of the appellate court that upheld the antigraft body’s ruling on a complaint filed by Vice Mayor Edgar Erice on July 7, placing the mayor, city treasurer Evelina Garma, budget officer Jesusa Garcia and city accountant Edna Centeno under six months’ preventive suspension.

In the complaint, Erice accused Echiverri of alleged nonremittance of more than P38 million of city hall employees’ contributions.

The Ombudsman said in its ruling that the city officials should step down to pave the way for a nonpartisan investigation into the matter.

Echiverri and his camp sought relief from the appellate court, which issued a temporary restraining order and later a preliminary injunction favoring them.

On Monday, however, the CA said that there was no “malicious conspiracy” between the Ombudsman and Erice as Echiverri had claimed, and that the antigraft body was therefore not committing grave abuse of discretion when it ordered the officials suspended.

Echiverri said that he would “resolve the latest challenge before him,” even as, he added, his camp had yet to receive a copy of the suspension order.

Meanwhile, operations at the city hall continued normally with residents flocking in to conduct transactions in various departments.

Leuterio Nicolas, officer in charge of the Public Information Office, said the routine of city hall employees would continue since they had not yet received a copy of the suspension order.

“People can still get their mayor’s permit now,” Nicolas said.