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In first day back, PSC chair Ramirez looks to seize payroll scammer's assets

PSC chairman Butch Ramirez went to work in his first day back. Jess Escaros/PNA (file photo)
By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA--In his return to duty, the chief of the Philippine Sports Commission looks to further penalize an employee caught for payroll padding.

In his first job from a one-month leave, PSC chairman Butch Ramirez sought the help of the Office of the Solicitor General regarding the case of Paul Michael Ignacio.

"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," Ramirez said in a statement on Monday.

Ramirez called a board meeting to further discuss the situation regarding Ignacio, who was caught instigating a payroll padding scheme.

[Related Story: PSC bares payroll padding scheme]

Ramirez, in particular, wrote to the OSG to seize all the assets of Ignacio, whose fraud involved listing down the names of national athletes and coaches already not receiving allowances from the PSC and using his account on their "behalf" to rack up some cash. National Bureau of Investigation agents arrested Ignacio last week for the said scheme.

Meanwhile, to make sure that the payroll padding scheme will not happen again, the PSC moved to have process and organizational auditors check what its bureaus are doing,

"We need fresh eyes to take a look at our processes and seek out areas that need to be strengthened," Ramirez further said.

Commissioner Mon Fernandez, who temporarily took Ramirez's place as officer-in-charge, expressed support for the returning Ramirez on behalf of the PSC board.

"The board is 100 percent with the chairman on this," Fernandez said.

Follow him on Twitter: @IvanSaldajeno_