Ombud holds Elipe, sis liable for graft

By NITZ ARANCON
Correspondent

 THE Office of the Ombudsman has found Councilor President Elipe and his sister liable for graft and falsification of documents as it recommended that the two be charged in court.

In a seven-page resolution, Ombudsman  Conchita Carpio Morales approved the charges against Elipe and his sister Pristine Quizon for violation of Article 171(4) of the Revise Penal Code,  and Section 3(e) of Republic Act 3019.

A copy of the decision, dated Dec. 7, 2015, was made available to this paper over the weekend.

Morales however dismissed the complaint filed against Vice Mayor Caesar Ian Acenas and city secretary Arturo de San Miguel in connection with the Elipe case.

The ombudsman found that Elipe and his sister conspired in falsifying an official document, specifically, a daily time record (DTR) at the city council, to allow the councilor’s sibling to collect more than what she should have been compensated for as a member of her brother’s legislative staff.

The case stemmed from the complaint filed by acting city administrator Dionne Gersana against Elipe, Quizon, Acenas and de San Miguel on Jan. 22, 2015.

Gersana, in his complaint, said the payroll showed that Quizon had no absences from Oct. 16 to Oct. 31, 2013. But here’s the catch: records from the immigration bureau showed that  Quizon was abroad from Oct. 25 to Oct. 29, the same year.

Gersana said Quizon left the country on Oct. 25, 2013.

He said Councilor Elipe signed the DTR with false entries, and certified it to be true and correct.

Gersana included de San Miguel and Acenas in the complaint, asserting that the allegedly falsified DTR passed them. The ombudsman however trashed the complaint against de San Miguel and Acenas.

While the alleged falsification of documents only cost city hall P1,894.08 which represented three days of work, Gersana said his point was that doctoring public documents is a very serious matter. He said the Elipe case could only be a tip of the iceberg.

Elipe and Quizon have maintained that the DTR questioned by Gersana was made without malice and there was no intention of falsifying documents.

Elipe pointed out that Quizon served him as “confidential  legislative staff,” and that she received no overtime pay.

“As a common practice, they are allowed to compensate their overtime work by means of offsetting it against their absences or to avail of the flexible working hours system,” Elipe explained.

He said Quizon has even worked beyond working hours and even during non-working days.

Elipe, a son-in-law of former mayor Vicente Emano, is serving his last office term as a member of the city council, and will step down next month. He lost in his bid to win a seat in the provincial board of Misamis Oriental in the just-held elections.

The ombudsman’s decision was also signed by graft investigator and prosecution officer Rosemil Robles Bañaga, and Maria Iluminada Lapid-Viva, director of the Evaluation and Investigation Bureau-A of the Office of the Ombudsman.