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Samar town mayor charged for withholding employees' salaries

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ABS-CBN News

MANILA – Hinabangan, Samar mayor Alejandro Abarratigue has been charged with graft by the Office of the Ombusdman for allegedly not paying the salaries of five municipal employees whom he &#x27;&#x27;unreasonably&#x27;&#x27; re-assigned to far-flung barangays in 2009.The Ombudsman charged Abarratigue with five counts of violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (R.A. No. 3019).The incumbent mayor is accused of withholding salaries of the five employees despite a court order granting the payment. The salaries ranged from P102,331 to P117,178The Ombudsman said the reassignment of the employees were declared to be &#x27;&#x27;irregular as these were made to a sub-office which did not actually exist under the municipal organizational structure, caused them additional financial burden and resulted to their harassment and oppression.&quot;Abarratigue said the non-payment of the salaries were justified by the employees&#x27; failure to submit their daily time records (DTR).However, an investigation revealed that the employees &#x27;&#x27;periodically submitted their DTRs to the Human Resource Office but respondent refused to sign them, including their leave of absences.&quot;&#x27;&#x27;[R]espondent&#x27;s act of deliberately withholding the payment of complainants&#x27; salaries and benefits and their subsequent dismissal from service which issuance of the Memorandum Orders came only months after they took effect, imputes a dishonest purpose or some moral obliquity and conscious doing of a wrong,&quot; the consolidated order stated.

Hinabangan, Samar mayor Alejandro Abarratigue has been charged with graft by the Office of the Ombusdman for allegedly not paying the salaries of five municipal employees whom he ''unreasonably'' re-assigned to far-flung barangays in 2009.