City administrator faces grave misconduct complaint

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu City Administrator Floro Casas, Jr. is facing a complaint for alleged grave misconduct before the Office of the Ombudsman.

The complainants, who requested not to be named, questioned the city’s move last year to rent a total of 373 vans and jeepneys worth P48,902,000 that were used to ferry health workers and city residents during the pandemic.

The complaint was filed on September 21, 2021.

In their complaint-affidavit, they claimed that Casas rented 278 passenger vans for a total amount of P37,834,500 or P5,500 each per day covering a continuous period of not less than nine months.

Meanwhile, a total of 95 passenger jeepneys were rented for a total amount of P11,062,500 or P2,500 each per day covering a continuous period of not less than nine months.

“Thus, we ask again — if these amounts that Respondent CASAS spent did not take time to be released, why is it that the salaries of the 98 job order nurses of the Cebu City Quarantine Center (CCQC) were delayed?” the complainants asked.

They said if Casas is concerned about the expenses of the city, he could have utilized the millions of pesos he spent for service vehicles for the salary of the nurses who have been working without pay while risking their lives of being infected of COVID-19.

“Instead, Respondent CASAS prioritized the rental of service vehicles — that was not even necessary because of the availability of public transportations- over the salary of our medical front liners,” read the complaint-affidavit.

“Clearly, the rental amount of the foregoing service vehicles per day was very costly, and the total number of vehicles was too much for Cebu City alone. Because of these irregular expenditures by Respondent CASAS, using government funds, we were constrained to file this criminal and administrative complaint against him before the Honorable Ombudsman,” it further read.

The complainants accused Casas of violation of Section 3 (e) of Republic Act No. 3019 for causing undue injury to the city government and the public through evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence; violation of Section 3 (g) of RA 3019 for entering, on behalf of the city, into irregular and unconscionable rental contracts with several suppliers that are manifestly and grossly disadvantageous to the city; violation of Section 4 (a) of RA 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees for wasting public funds; and grave misconduct, serious dishonesty, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service as penalized by RA 6770 or the Ombudsman Act of 1989.

Sought for comment, Casas said he is always ready to answer complaints relating to the city’s procurement.

“Di man gyud mi mahadlok sa kanang among mga procurements. Sige nalang ko’g balik-balik, di gyud mi mahadlok kay kana siya nga procurement, mi-go through man gyud na siya sa atoang procurement process in accordance to procurement law,” said Casas.

“And it’s not just me. Before ko mopirma, moagi man gyud na sa Bids and Awards Committee nga maoy mo-review sa mga documents, mga prices, sa rates nga atoang gamiton, so I am very confident nga wala mi problema ana,” he added.

Casas said the van and jeepney rental was an emergency purchase, but still underwent canvass.

As to the point of the complainants regarding the delay of salaries to health workers, he reiterated that the reason for this is that there are some requirements that need to be complied with.

“Kining procurement, this is very straightforward. You canvass, you deliver the goods, then bayaran ra mo. Ana ra na siya ka simple,” said Casas. — LPM (FREEMAN)