Thursday, November 06, 2008 Ombud spots 5 red plate cars running during All Souls’ Day
THE anti-graft office spotted five government vehicles running around during All Soul’s Day.
Worse, Assistant Ombudsman Virginia Palanca-Santiago spotted all the vehicles herself near a catholic church somewhere in Cebu City.
She would not disclose where, citing the confidential nature of fact-finding investigations.
And conducting a fact-finding investigation was exactly what she ordered immediately after reporting for work last Monday.
Government
“We’ve sent them letters to their office asking for an explanation,” she told reporters yesterday.
The anti-graft district office in Bacolod City also spotted five government cars in different parts of the Negros Occidental during All Soul’s Day.
Show cause orders have also been sent to the government agencies where the vehicles are registered to.
The anti-graft office’s continued monitoring of cars half humorously referred to as “for official use also,” an obvious dig at a government regulation that requires all
government agencies to mark their vehicles “for official use only,” is in compliance to a directive issued by Tanodbayan Merceditas Gutierrez.
One task force operates in every anti-graft sectoral office with Santiago serving as task force head.
Mariano C.J. Martinez, former Cebu Ports Authority (CPA) general manager, was slapped with a six-month-long suspension in May 2007 over the unauthorized use of a government car.
The car was used in bringing and fetching his daughter from school.
Three CPA drivers, whose names were not mentioned, reportedly signed affidavits last year and submitted these to Santiago.
Regulations
They said they were ordered by Martinez to “fetch and drive his daughter to and from school” using an official vehicle, a Toyota Revo, owned by CPA.
In suspending Martinez, Gutierrez was quoted as saying: “As general manager, he is supposed to know and comply with the regulations on the use of government vehicle, but he did not. For that, he must face the consequences.”
During the investigation, Martinez admitted using the government car but said he had the permission from the Cebu Port Commission. (KNR)
