THE Office of the Public Auditor is looking into the lump sum annual leave payments that he did not authorize, Saipan Mayor Ramon “RB” Camacho said.
He said if Secretary of Finance Tracy Norita “is claiming that it is legit, who authorized it?”
“I did not authorize that,” he added. “Because if that request for lump sum annual leave payment request came into my attention, I would not have allowed it.”
On Friday, during a Senate Committee on Fiscal Affairs budget hearing, Norita said the payouts were authorized and legal.
“These employees in question were being paid out of the mayor’s 603 funding, so that’s why the funding was available,” she said. “If it was any other source, it would not be available and thus not paid out.”
Norita said the process for the payments went through verification, accountability, and due diligence.
“It was just a matter of timing in the issuance of those payments, as it happened to be in the term of the new mayor. Those payments were authorized and verified,” she added.
Camacho said if he had authorized the payment, then “it’s not going to be for a select few and handpicked individuals…. It’s just like at home. If I have three children, I’m going to make sure that I give it to all three kids. Not just one or two.”
He earlier discovered that there was a total of $98,137.14 in lump sum payments of accrued annual leave for former and current municipal employees that were taken from the Saipan mayor’s office funds without his knowledge or authorization.
“Right now, that lump sum payments to a select few are causing morale issues among the current employees…because now those who have not received lump sum payments wanted to know how they can get theirs,” Camacho added.
“I don’t want to jeopardize OPA’s investigation. I made a request, and they are making the move. I’m interested to see the result of the investigation into who authorized it. And if they used my signature, I’m going to request for further investigation. If I need to…I will file criminal charges,” Camacho said.
The Saipan mayor’s office funds are “not my personal money,” he added. “The CNMI financial situation is still in question. Government employees under the executive branch are under austerity. 500 ARPA funds employees were released. So, I’m not that stupid to release those lump sum funds knowing that the CNMI government is under financial constraint.”
Camacho at the same time said he did not say anything about his predecessor, Lt. Gov. David M. Apatang.
“I respect him,” Camacho said. “I don’t have anything against the lt. governor. I didn’t mention anything about [him] regarding this issue, because I don’t know who authorized the payments. I just want to clear that and clarify. I get calls from constituents, pointing fingers at me that I am the one who’s causing the problem…. I want to make it clear, I did not mention Apatang. I don’t suspect Apatang. All I am complaining about is the disbursement of funds without my authorization. I’ve nothing against Apatang…. We are elected by the people, we all have a mission to work on. I will stand on my feet in performing my duties and responsibilities to serve the people.”
He also noted the lump sum payments made to Rota municipality employees. “I have nothing against the mayor of Rota, but it’s showing in our system that…Rota employees were paid under the Mayor of Saipan account. How did that happen? Who pushed that button. Is it intentional or unintentional? Again, I’m not pointing fingers at anybody. [But] I want to know who authorized the lump sum payments, and I want that money back. That money is not my personal money. That money is to serve the people, not only for selected employees.”
Ten former employees of his predecessor and four current employees of his office received lump sum payments of accrued annual leave without his authorization.
Saipan Mayor Ramon “RB” Camacho
