THE Office of the Public Auditor is conducting investigations on several government personnel actions that involve granting of salaries beyond the cap, which were executed under Gov. Juan N. Babauta’s administration and that of former Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio’s.
Public Auditor Mike Sablan yesterday said these investigations are separate from the ongoing government-wide compensation audit for all officials receiving at least $50,000 per year that started in July 2001.
Sablan also said that the investigations are not limited to the executive branch.
“We have been requested to investigate a number of personnel actions relating to salaries and the salary cap, and there have been requests relating to issues under the new administration,” Sablan told Variety.
Provisions of the CNMI Government Ethics Act prohibit OPA from disclosing specific details of any ongoing investigation.
Nevertheless, Sen. Ramon S. Guerrero, American Reform-Saipan, said OPA should also look into Babauta’s recent move to lift the salary cap for some of his appointees.
“It’s only reasonable that if you fill in an old position with a new employee and then there’s sudden increase in salaries, that tells us that it’s a political situation, especially when that new person does not have the right qualifications for the job,” Guerrero told Variety in a separate interview.
Vicente M. Sablan, chairman of the Civil Service Commission, said his office has not received certifications for the lifting of the salary caps for some of the governor’s appointees.
Section 8250 of 1 CMC requires Babauta to certify to the presiding officers of the Legislature and the CSC chairman that “after a diligent effort, the commonwealth is unable to recruit a professionally or technically qualified person to take an appointed position, he or she may waive the salary ceiling established by law for that position.”
Sen. Pete P. Reyes, R-Saipan, meanwhile said the governor needs to do some “balancing acts.”
“On one hand, he has to observe austerity measures, but at the same time he also needs to effectively deliver community services and one way to do that is to hire and compensate the right people,” said Reyes.
He, however, said OPA is an appropriate agency to look into whether public funds are misused and abused.
Babauta’s appointees who will receive annual salaries in excess of the cap include Francisco I. Taitano, his special assistant for customs and quarantine; Celina R. Babauta, his secretary; Juan I. Castro, director of the Division of Environmental Quality; and, Robert J. Schwalbach, Babauta’s senior policy advisor.
OPA’s ongoing government-wide compensation audit also includes local hires who are receiving government housing or housing allowance benefits.
The probe also seeks justification on why certain government officials or employees — civil service, excepted or appointed — have “annual leave benefits in excess of eight hours per pay day” and “sick leave benefits in excess of four hours per pay day.”
