Ombudsman dismisses QC councilor Roderick Paulate, 3 others for ‘ghost employees’ issue
This matter is sure to haunt those who are involved in the case.
“The Office of the Ombudsman found Quezon City 2nd District Councilor Roderick Paulate and 1st District Rep. Francisco Calalay Jr. guilty of falsification of official documents, serious dishonesty, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service, and grave misconduct for allegedly hiring ghost employees,” reports Carolyn Bonquin on ABS-CBNnew.com.
The report noted: “Paulate and Calalay, as well as liaison officers Flordeliza Alvarez and Vicente Bajamunde, are perpetually disqualified from holding public office. Their civil service eligibilities are also cancelled, and their retirement benefits forfeited.”
It may be recalled that “Paulate and Calalay initially argued that they ‘relied on the endorsement of their staff and coordinators” because they did not have time to interview the applicants.'”
Meanwhile, a Philippine Daily Inquirer report by Marc Jayson Cayabyab broke it down: “Calalay had 29 ghost employees from January to November 2010, while Paulate had 30 from July to November 2010. These fictitious employees supposedly received PHP2,500 to PHP5,000 monthly wage each.”
Calalay supposedly disbursed PHP2.175 million for the wages of his ghost employees. For his part, Paulate was said to have disbursed PHP1.125 million. The ghost employees were tagged as field inspectors, district coordinators, and office aides.
The Inquirer report further revealed: “The Ombudsman’s investigation showed that these fictitious personnel did not have birth records from the National Statistics Office. They are not registered voters of Quezon City, and have not secured National Bureau of Investigation clearances. They are also not known in the barangays where they allegedly reside.”
