Mayor Echiverri insists suspension order vs him erroneous

Five days before a preventive suspension order will be served on him, Caloocan City Mayor Enrico Echiverri on Wednesday insisted the directive is erroneous, and that he will file a temporary restraining order (TRO) against it. In an interview on Balitanghali, Echiverri said the basis of the suspension is erroneous. "Mali yung kaso laban sa akin na non-remittance of GSIS premium for the city hall workers. Bayad na kami lahat. Nag-bog down lang ang computer ng GSIS at mali ang bill na lumabas. Also, he said his camp is ready to file a TRO saying, "based on our records, we have paid all our GSIS remittance."
The suspension order from the Department Interior and Local Government (DILG) stemmed from a complaint filed by Caloocan vice mayor Edgar Erice claiming that the city government failed to remit the contributions of the more than 3,000 city hall employees. Erice clarified that his only motive in filing the complaint is to solve the city government problem with the GSIS and not to grab power from Echiverri. Should Echiverri's suspension push through, Erice will be acting Caloocan City mayor. Meanwhile, Echiverri said the city government's obligations based on GSIS records was only around P5 million and not P300 million as Erice claimed. "Sasabihin ko, hindi yan utang namin. Yan ay erroneous billing na sinasabi ko. Hindi namin babayaran yan," he said, adding that the bill stemmed from the GSIS record that was not updated. We were billed para sa mga empleyado na namatay na... at yung ibang matagal nang nag-resign. Dapat ayusin muna ng GSIS ang record, he added. According to him, the ball is now in the hands of the GSIS. "We submitted our findings on the erroneous billing. The agency must now validate our records." He claimed the GSIS record that Erice used in filing his complaint was the one that was not updated. "In fact, may naka-note pa sa mga records na yun na nagsasabing na 'subject to adjustment after reconciliation of account.' Dapat hindi ginamit yun na basis sa complaint kasi di pa official yung record na yun," Echiverri said. — LBG, GMA News