Suspended teller still working in Talisay

Despite the preventive suspension order issued by Mayor Socrates Fernandez last Monday, teller Rey Lumapas is still working at the Talisay City Treasurer's Office.

This was because Lumapas has yet to receive a copy of the order. And yesterday, city legal officer Aurora Econg ordered Lumapas to stop working starting Monday as the implementation of the 30-day preventive suspension starts.

Econg, the chairwoman of the fact-finding committee tasked to investigate the complaint, recommended his suspension after finding probable cause to the complaint against him.

Lumapas is being investigated for alleged tampering of the carbonized duplicate and triplicate copies of the official receipt he issued to Dominga Geraldez. It was Geraldez who discovered that what was reflected in the said copies was way below the amount she paid.

Lumapas wrote in those copies that Geraldez paid P10 for the Police Clearance fee, when in fact Geraldez paid P250 for the Professional Tax Receipt.

"Because of the gravity of the offense committed, there is a compelling and an imperative need for the respondent to be placed under preventive suspension in order to protect the integrity and safety of the public funds," read Econg's report of her investigation.

And because Geraldez has already filed the criminal and administrative complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas, the committee, which can no longer lodge a formal charge against the same person of similar case as there is already a pending case of the same nature, instead recommended for Lumapas' 30-day suspension.

Subsequently, the mayor issued the executive order dated April 17 implementing the said suspension.

And because it was not received by Lumapas that day, Econg had to meet him yesterday to personally relay it to him.

Econg explained that the suspension was to give time for the city hall to find a new post for him outside the Treasurer's Office that when it expires he can always go back to work pending the Ombudsman's resolution of his case. - Liv G. Campo