Ramirez asks Solgen to seize alleged payroll theft’s assets
PHILIPPINE Sports Commission Chairman William Ramirez was back in harness on Monday after a monthlong leave to attend to his wife who had to undergo surgery.
And his first order of the day? Write the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to seize the assets of a PSC employee who faces charges of qualified theft and falsification of documents for siphoning part of the sports’ agency’s payroll to his personal account.
“We need all the help we can get to get to the bottom of this and make every effort that nothing of this sort ever happens again,” said Ramirez, who convened his commissioners for a virtual meeting late Monday.
In the letter to the OSG, Ramirez sought “assistance in instituting proper proceedings relative to the complaint filed against Paul Michael Ignacio, including garnishment of all real or personal property and the reversion of these back to the government.”
Ignacio allegedly included inactive national athletes and coaches in the PSC payroll and directed the allowances to his account at the Landbank branch in Harrison Plaza. He had access to the payroll file in his capacity as an IT staff at the PSC Personnel Department.
Landbank officials noticed the irregular transaction and immediately alarmed the PSC, which sought the National Bureau of Investigation’s help in arresting Ignacio.
Initial investigations show Ignacio has been scheming the PSC for the last five years and illegally transacted at least P14 million to his payroll account.
“The board is 100 percent with the Chairman [Ramirez] on this,” said Commissioner Ramon Fernandez who was the PSC’S Officer in Charge when Ignacio was arrested.
Deputy Executive Director for Support Atty. Guillermo Iroy Jr., Ramirez said, would lead the PSC’S legal team that would pursue the case against Ignacio.
The PSC board also agreed on Monday to tap process and organizational auditors to help the agency fortify its bureaus. Ramirez explained that “we need fresh eyes to look at our processes and seek out areas that need to be strengthened,” he said.
The board would meet again online on Wednesday.