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THE
Ombudsman has preventively suspended for at least six
months seven erring officials from different offices of
the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Department of
Finance (DOF) for various offenses.
In a
13-page order, Ombudsman Maria Merceditas Gutierrez
suspended Gregorio Magat, customs operations officer V,
assigned at the BOC-Manila, and his wife, Nieves,
executive assistant IV of the Department of Finance; and
Victor Barros, special agent II, also assigned at the
BOC, Port of Manila, for allegedly acquiring wealth
which is disproportionate to their lawful income.
Also
ordered suspended was deputy district collector
Priscilla Cordova of the BOC, Port of Subic, for
allegedly allowing the smuggling of 16 high-end luxury
vehicles out of the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.
Likewise, Gutierrez also suspended Dionisito Valles,
customs examiner; Nicolas Bejar, principal examiner; and
Virgilio Vergara, principal appraiser, all of the Formal
Entry Division of the BOC-Manila.
Gutierrez said the bases for the suspension of the Magat
couple were “dishonesty, grave misconduct and conduct
prejudicial to the best interest of the service.”
Assistant Ombudsman Mark Jalandoni of the OMB Field
Investigation Office (OMB-FIO) said, based on the
investigation, Magat started his career in the
government service as a Customs Bonded Warehouse
inspector on April 19, 1976, with an annual salary of
P6,552.
He rose
through the ranks until he was appointed to his current
post on March 18, 1992 with an annual salary of
P230,016. His gross annual salary from 1992, to 2005
amounted to P2,376,770.
Magat’s
wife joined public service on December 7, 1964, as
steno-typist at the DOF.
At
present, she holds the position of EA IV and receives an
annual salary of P261,372. Based on her service record,
her annual income from 1992 to 2005 is P2,698,186.
Jalandoni said further checks with the Civil Service
Commission (CSC) and the OMB revealed that both agencies
do not have a record of Magat’s Statement of Assets,
Liabilities and Networth (SALN) from the start of his
government service to 2005.
His
wife, however, filed her SALNs for the years 1992, 1993
and 1995 to 2005.
In her
SALN, Nieves declared that she had two houses and lots
in Las Piñas City and a house and lot in
Muntinlupa
City;
a Toyota Revo GLX (XPG-525), and an Isuzu Crosswind
(XLX-825).
“Three
other cars were declared in her SALNs, but verification
with the LTO [Land Transportation Office] yielded
negative results,” Jalandoni said.
He said
records showed that there are other properties
registered in the name of the couple, which were not
declared in Nieves’s SALNs: a house and lot and a
residential lot in Parañaque City and a house and lot in
Ayala Alabang, Muntinlupa City, and a 2005 Isuzu
Crosswind.
“We also
discovered that the Magat couple has been the beneficial
user of two houses in Parañaque City as evidenced by
Meralco billings under Nieves’s name,” Jalandoni said.
Based on
the National Statistics Office Index from 1992 to 2005,
the total expenses incurred by respondents’ family
during the said period amounted to P1,713,409.15.
Based on
a complaint filed by the DOF-Revenue Integrity
Protection Service, Barros only submitted his SALNs for
the years 1981, 1988, 1992, 1994 to 1998 and from 2000
to 2004 on June 15, 2006.
Investigation revealed that respondent and his wife
acquired a total of P10,703,000 worth of properties from
1981 to 2002, consisting of four houses and lots, eight
cars, two parcels of land and two apartments.
Barros
is only receiving at present an annual gross income of
P125,304, while his wife has no declared fixed or
regular income, according to the FIO’s report.
In the
case of Cordova, the complaint against her was filed by
by one Alonso Dominguez before the BOC, alleging that
Cordova signed the papers for the release of the luxury
vehicles which were consigned to Hidemitsu Trading
Corp., although no payment of the appropriate taxes and
duties have been made.
In a
nine-page order, the Ombudsman ruled that “The
accusatory allegations contained in the complaint
constitute an act of Dishonesty and Grave Misconduct
which, if proven true, could warrant her removal from
government service.”
The
Ombudsman also said the presence of Cordova’s name and
signature in the certificates of payment for the
vehicles “brings forth the prima facie presumption that
she had deliberately made a misrepresentation by making
it appear in the said certificates that the taxes due on
the subject vehicles were paid when, in truth and in
fact, it was not.”
In the
cases of Valles, Bejar and Vergara, the complaint filed
against them alleged that they conspired to release a
shipment of 960 containers which were declared as
“used-vehicle replacement parts.” |
