Senior Citizens Party-list Rep. Rodolfo Ordanes (Facebook)

Senior Citizens Party-list Rep. Rodolfo "Ompong" Ordanes has echoed the call of National Commissioners of Senior Citizens (NCSC) officials for the removal of Chairman Franklin Quijano from the body. 

"In solidarity with the five Commissioners of the National Commissioners of Senior Citizens who...disclosed a litany of alleged acts of graft and corruption committed by NCSC Chairman Franklin Quijano, I share their 'manifesto' containing their allegations and details thereof," Ordanes said in a statement.
 
"I call for the removal of Franklin Quijano from the NCSC and the filing of graft and corruption charges against Quijano before the Ombudsman," he said.
 
Commissioners Ricardo Rainier, Enriqueta Rodeles, Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, Reymar Mansilungan, and Edwin Espejo have accused Quijano of bypassing the NCSC as a collegial body. 

Their allegations include 11 acts of grave abuse of authority, four acts of gross misconduct, nine acts of gross negligence of duty, two acts of ignorance of the law, and conduct inimical to the interest of the public. 

"Some of their accusations draw from the findings of the House joint committee report. Quijano was found liable for many acts of graft and corruption at the conclusion of the congressional investigation," the party-list solon said. 

Ordanes chairs the House Committee on Senior Citizens in the current 19th Congress.
 
“Sadly, many of their findings, which called for reforms and corrections, are continuously being ignored by the Chair.  Worse, he is repeatedly committing acts deemed by the House of Representatives as illegal, improper and whimsical,” the five NCSC Commissioners said.
 
A very recent one is his 15 April 2024 letter to the Office of the President through the legal department of Malacanang, they said.
 
"What may be true is his distorted view of his authority as CEO (chief executive officer), bypassing the commission in this putative letter that did not reflect the position of the commission as a collegial body and in contravene with what has been discussed during the en banc meeting," they said of Quijano.  
 
"By doggedly clinging to his self-serving positions, he exposes his irrational and wanton disregard for authority," they added.
 
"For why, after seeking clarification from CSC (Civil Service Commission) in September last year, he now comes begging for the reversal of CESB Resolution No 1717 - the ruling which he himself sought - through the legal department of the Office of the President.  More despicably, he sought the reversal sans consultation with and nary the knowledge of the rest of the commissioners." 

"Worse," the commissioners said, "his letter withheld material facts and information that is crucial to the appreciation of the Office of the President on the issue that has long been the bone of contention and subject to contentious debate in the Commission."