CEBU City Mayor Nestor Archival has vowed to enforce the dismissal of officials linked to the P239-million garbage anomaly as soon as he receives the official notice from the Office of the Ombudsman.
Seven incumbent Cebu City Hall employees and a former official were dismissed by the Ombudsman for gross neglect of duty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.
Dismissed were former city administrator Floro Casas Jr., Department of Public Services (DPS) chief John Jigo Dacua, Cebu Environmental Sanitation and Enforcement Team (Ceset) head Grace Luardo-Silva, DPS inspection officer Allen Omlero Ceballos, city treasurer’s office inspector Romelito Asinjo Datan, general services office inspector Mark Abarquez Ugbinar, acting city accountant Jerome Visarra Ornopia, and acting city treasurer Mare Vae Reyes.
Archival visited on Wednesday, July 30, the Cebu City Treasurer’s Office and spoke with the assistant city treasurer to prepare the agency for a possible leadership vacancy, noting that Reyes was among the officials named.
“Para ni makahibalo ta og unsa buhaton in the next few days considering nga basin mo-abot na ang order gikan sa Ombudsman (This is so we’ll know what to do in the next few days, considering that the order from the Ombudsman might arrive soon0,” said Archival.
“I will make sure nga (dili ma-hamper) kay ang treasurer (officer) is very important,” he added.
The Ombudsman, according to the National Bureau of Investigation-Central Visayas Regional Office (NBI-Cevro), found probable cause to charge the above-mentioned officials for malversation of public funds and violation of Republic Act (RA) 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
Aside from dismissal from service, the Ombudsman also imposed the forfeiture of retirement benefits, perpetual disqualification from holding public office, and a lifetime ban from taking civil service examinations on the eight officials.
The Ombudsman also found probable cause to indict private individuals from the Docast/JJ&J joint venture, including Jarya Angelic Maninog Ruiz-Javier (incorporator/authorized managing officer), John David Sevilles Javier (officer-in-charge/operation manager), and Erika May Quino (encoder) for one count of malversation of public funds and one count of violation of Section 3(e) of RA 3019.
The charges stemmed from an investigation initiated by former vice mayor Michael Rama in August 2021 and a City Council resolution.
When sought for comment on Tuesday, July 29, Rama declined to answer questions, saying he has not yet read the full report.
He said he will call a press conference to share his reaction on the case’s development, which comes nearly four years since it began.
The NBI-Cevro, according to the Ombudsman resolution, uncovered a P239 million overpriced garbage disposal fee payment anomalies in Cebu City’s garbage collection, alleging that the contractor, Docast/JJ&J, overbilled the City by falsifying records and charging for deliveries made by city-owned trucks.
The contractor billed the City P1,800 per ton, while ARN, the dumpsite operator, charged P600 per ton even to barangay and city-owned trucks, leading to a substantial financial loss of P239,728,280.62 for Cebu City. (EHP)