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By Jomar Canlas, Reporter
Criminal and administrative charges were filed
before the Office of the Ombudsman against Winston Garcia, the
president and general manager of the Government Service Insurance
System (GSIS).
The charges were for illegally remitting
P1-billion unassigned surplus of the Government Insurance Fund to
the Office of the President instead of the National Treasury.
Members of the board of trustees of the state pension fund were
slapped with the same charges.
Two separate complaints were filed by lawyer
Alberto Velasco, the president of Kapisanan ng mga Mangagawa sa GSIS;
Miguel Miram, a founding member of the Parents Teachers Coalition
for Advancement; and Luz Pacete of School Association of Parents
Anti-Crime. The complainants accused Garcia and the trustees of
illegally passing Board Resolution 255 on December 6, 2004, for the
remittance of the P1-billion fund to Malacañang.
The trustees are Bernardino Abes (chairman),
Victoria Ablan, Jesse Andres, Mario Ramirez, Esperanza Ocampo,
Reynaldo Palmiery, Alejandro Roces, Jesus Santos and Nita Javier.
They and Garcia were charged with violations of
Republic Act 8291, or the GSIS Act of 1997, and Article 239 of the
Revised Penal Code, or Usurpation of Legislative Functions and
Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, all criminal offenses. The
administrative charge, grave misconduct, arose from violation of
Republic Act 6713, or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for
Public Officials and Employees.
Under the law, according to the complainants,
disposal of unassigned surplus from Government Insurance Fund shall
be apportioned in accordance with a schedule approved by the GSIS,
among the government agencies whose properties are insured in the
fund.
“This scheme and practice of the accused in
delivering monies of the GSIS to the Office of the President is
illegal, unlawful and immoral,” they said.
The complainants added that “this penchant of
the accused in sucking up to the powers-that-be by delivering monies
to it [is] a departure from the GSIS’ practice in the past of
coursing thru the National Treasury any unassigned surplus to
government agencies.”
Velasco asked the Office of the Ombudsman to
order the preventive suspension of Garcia and the other GSIS
officials to ensure that documents pertaining to the illegal
disbursements are not stolen or destroyed and in order for the
witnesses to come out.
He and the other complainants also asked that,
upon finding probable cause against the accused, criminal charges be
filed before the Sandiganbayan, the anti-graft court, and hold the
respondents administratively liable.
Velasco demanded the head of Garcia for
allegedly grave abuses and scandalous anomalies.
In their complaint, Miram and Pacete stressed
that there was usurpation of legislative functions committed by the
accused for passing Board Resolution 188 on August 13, 2003, that
would decrease the “survivorship benefits provided by law.”
Board Resolution 108 is “a gross and brazen
abuse on the part of Garcia and the Board of Trustees, as it amends
a law when they have no such law-making powers,” the complaint
said.
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