Caloocan exec charged with forging papers

MANILA, Philippines - Caloocan City Vice Mayor Edgar Erice is facing charges for allegedly producing fake appointment papers for three applicants to vacant posts in the city council office.

He was charged with falsification of public documents, dishonesty, grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service before the Office of the Ombudsman.

City administrator Russel Ramirez, secretary to the mayor Kristine Abustan and acting budget officer Jesusa Garcia also filed charges against city council employees Eugene Lazir Mangaliman, Ma. Pilar Afan and Rosemarie Angeles before Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales last Sept. 7.

In a statement released yesterday, the complainants said that on Jan. 28, Erice issued a notice to the office of Mayor Enrico Echiverri about “supposed vacant positions” at the city council’s office that included administrative officer IV, administrative officer III, records officer III, records officer II, computer operator III, clerk II, storekeeper I and audio visual equipment operator III.

Ramirez, Abustan and Garcia claimed that on Aug. 5, Erice installed Afan as clerk II, Angeles as storekeeper I and Mangaliman as audio visual equipment operator III, all with permanent status and each with a salary of P114,432 per annum.

According to the complainants, Erice’s appointment papers “explicitly stated” that the three passed the screening of the Caloocan City Personnel Selection Board (CCPSB) and were “therefore qualified” for the assigned jobs. They said the appointments of Afan, Angeles and Mangaliman “in reality they did not go through the necessary screening” of the CCPSB.

Ramirez, Abustan and Garcia claimed that the CCPSB was created by the city council to screen potential employees for vacant positions in the city government.

They said the vice mayor was also advised by the Civil Service Commission that “fillers” of vacant posts “must” get the personnel selection board’s approval.

They accused Erice of taking advantage of his position and allegedly falsifying the papers of his co-accused by making it appear that Afan, Angeles and Mangaliman passed the evaluation and screening of the personnel selection board.

The complainants claimed that as members of the CCPSB, they did not participate in the screening and evaluation of the qualifications of Mangaliman, Afan and Angeles, because the personnel selection board “did not even convene nor found these persons qualified for the positions to which they were appointed” by the vice mayor.

The complainants asked the Office of the Ombudsman to have Erice placed on a six-month preventive suspension “to make sure that the official won’t have any involvement in the investigation.”

In July, Erice filed graft charges against Echiverri, accusing his former ally of reportedly failing to remit over P37 million in city employees’ contributions to the Government Service and Insurance System. He tried but failed to get Echiverri suspended for six months after the Court of Appeals overturned the Ombudsman’s ruling.