Tuesday, October 21, 2008
BI official admits using gov’t vehicle on a Saturday
VEHICLES of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) must have a trip ticket that specifies the official business covered, Assistant Secretary Romeo Junia said yesterday.
BI Cebu Alien Control Officer (ACO) Reynaldo Almaden, meanwhile, admitted to radio dyLA that he was the one who used the vehicle caught by Task Force Oplan Red Plate last Saturday at the parking lot of the Ayala Business Park.
Almaden said he had a meeting with investors.
Almaden said the apprehension of the vehicle he used was part of the demolition job against him.
An official of the Land Transportation Office (LTO), however, denied this. The Task Force is composed of members from the LTO, Office of the Ombudsman, Commission on Audit, Civil Service Commission, Philippine National Police and the Philippine Information Agency.
Junia, on the other hand, said the driver of the vehicle, Mark Ponce, is a confidential agent and has no authority to drive the vehicle, according to records of BI-Cebu.
Junia said Ponce did not have a trip ticket as required by office rules and the vehicle was taken out of the BI Cebu compound without recording it in the security guard’s log book.
The use of the vehicle by Almaden was recorded only in the log book when it was returned by Ponce and after it was apprehended by the task force.
Junia ordered Bojie Cartajena, the administrative officer, to create an official trip ticket that will indicate the time of the vehicle’s use, the passenger, the distance travelled and fuel consumption.
Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Pelagio Apostol said there were 11 government vehicles apprehended last weekend, six of them from Cebu.
Assistant Ombudsman Virginia Palanca-Santiago said that those who cannot justify the use of government vehicle during Saturdays, Sundays and holidays will be suspended or dismissed from service. (EOB)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (October 21, 2008 issue)
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