Dismissed QC congressman stays in House rolls, says Belmonte

 

Quezon City Rep. Francisco Calalay Jr. will not be dropped from the rolls of the House of Representatives despite an order by the Office of the Ombudsman to dismiss him from government service for allegedly hiring “ghost employees” when he was city councilor in 2010.

 

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., who represents the 4th district of Quezon City and the city's former mayor, said Calalay could not be delisted yet since he could seek a reversal of the Ombudsman’s decision.

 

“We have no intention of removing him as a congressman at this stage,” he told reporters Thursday.

 

“I believe Calalay, following the precedents [set by] other people, will go to the Court of Appeals siguro to ask for a TRO (temporary restraining order) on the Ombudsman’s decision because in this administrative case, it’s immediately executory… The case is still in its early stages and maraming options ahead of him,” Belmonte, a lawyer, added.

 

In a resolution signed by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, Calalay and fellow Quezon City councilor Roderick Paulate, and city liaison officers Flordeliza Alvarez and Vicente Bajamunde were all found guilty of falsification of official documents, serious dishonesty and grave misconduct.

 

Aside from their dismissal, the four respondents were also meted with accessory penalties of perpetual disqualification from holding public office, cancellation of eligibility, and forfeiture of retirement benefits

 

The Ombudsman directed the Department of Interior and Local Government to implement the order.

 

The filing of the case stemmed from an investigative report by IMBESTIGADOR which tracked the paper trail and the personalities who were allegedly involved in the ghost employees' scheme at the Quezon City government.

 

 

 

Results of the Ombudsman’s investigation showed that Calalay and Paulate were receiving the salaries and other emoluments of the “ghost employees” they hired, the positions which included field inspectors, district coordinators and office aides.

 

The Ombudsman said each "ghost employee" was receiving a salary raging from P5,000 to P10,000 monthly.

 

While the Speaker said the Ombudsman’s order to dismiss Calalay from service could no longer be enforced since he’s no longer a city councilor, he admitted that the enforcement of the accessory penalties which include the lawmaker’s perpetual disqualification from holding public office was a “tricky question.”

 

“Although Calalay’s case is only an administrative case, it does say he’s no longer eligible to run for public office perpetually,” Belmonte said.

 

GMA News Online contacted Calalay's office for comment on Thursday but did not receive a reply. —APG/KG, GMA News