Trillanes files plunder raps vs Duterte over 'ghost employees'

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Thursday filed plunder charges before the Office of the Ombudsman against Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte over the questionable hiring of 11,246 contractual workers by the city government in 2014.

Citing a Commission on Audit report last year, Trillanes said the city government spent P708 million for salaries of contractual workers that include garbage collectors, drivers and intelligence operatives roaming the city.

Trillanes alleged that these workers were hired even if there was no hiring manual, adding that this opens the employment process to patronage politics.

He added that they conducted random validations which confirmed that most of these contractual employees did not render any services.

"Considering the amount involved, P708 million, and the fact that this anomalous practice of Davao City of hiring thousands upon thousands of contractual workersunder his and his daughter's incumbency have been going on for years, if not decades, the act of Mayor Duterte clearly constitutes the crimes of malversation of public funds, violation of Section 3 of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and plunder," the complaint read.

The senator surmised that the P708 million "have apparently been transacted and/or laundered" through the bank accounts of Duterte and his children namely, Sara, Paolo and Sebastian.

To determine the truth, Trillanes asked the Ombudsman to suspend Duterte for an indefinite period to give way to the investigation into the mayor's alleged unexplained wealth.

Meanwhile, Peter Laviña, head of the media group of the Duterte camp, told GMA News Online that former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas awarded Davao City with the Government Seal of Good Governance in 2015.

"This means the (local government unit) LGU went into evaluation. That award is a positive affirmation compared with trumped up charges," Laviña said.

"Trillanes only wants fancy attention that is why this piecemeal releases that tickles the media but not the people fed up with trapos," he added.

Duterte, a leading presidential candidate, earlier defended his decision to hire contractual workers, saying in an interview in June last year that it is his duty to keep the city safe and clean.

He said the practice of tapping contractual employees started during the term of former mayor Benjamin de Guzman, who served from 1998 to 2001.

He also vowed to resign from his post if someone could come up with evidence that he pocketed government funds.

Trillanes hopes his complaint will "open the floodgates" for evidence about Duterte's alleged corrupt activities to surface.

The senator earlier accused the mayor of having undeclared bank deposits worth P211 million, which is allegedly part of the P2.4 billion that flowed into the bank accounts of Duterte and Sara from 2006 to 2015. Duterte denied the allegation. — with Trisha Macas/VVP, GMA News