THE Department of Finance (DoF) has sacked five internal revenue and customs officials as of September, and has suspended 15 more, due to inconsistencies in their wealth statements.
The DoF has ordered the dismissal from public service of three Bureau of Customs (BoC) officials and two from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), after the Office of the Ombudsman found them guilty of “Grave Misconduct and Serious Dishonesty and finding anomalies regarding the accomplishment and filing of their Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) reports.”
This included Customs Administrative Aide Ester Grafil Sese, after she was found to own various motor vehicles, firearms, and a townhouse property in her SALNs covering 2000 to 2013, despite only earning about P78,264 a month as of 2012.
BoC Special Agent Ramir Saunders Gomez, meanwhile failed to declare six real properties located in Old Cabalan, Olongapo City in his SALN, while the Transfer Certificates of Title for the said properties were under his name.
Customs Operations Officer V Visitacion B. Difuntorum likewise failed to declare her properties in Quezon City and in Catarman, Samar.
From the BIR, the DoF sacked Chief Revenue Officer IV Judith G. Pacan of the Iligan City district office, as she failed to declare a parcel of land located in Misamis Oriental; an ancestral house located in Cagayan De Oro City; land in Molugan, El Salvador City; land in Cagayan De Oro City and a housing loan.
On top of that, she also failed to secure a travel authority for a trip to Hong Kong and Singapore.
Meanwhile, Ma. Herminia A. Pabito, Revenue Officer IV of the BIR, also failed to declare properties in her 2009 to 2011 SALNs, and also failed to secure travel authorization for trips to Bangkok, Shanghai, and Hong Kong.
The administrative cases were filed by the Finance department’s anti-corruption arm, the Revenue Integrity Protection Service.
Aside from those dismissed from service, the DoF also ordered the suspension of nine Customs employees, two BIR staff, and one city Treasurer spanning from one month to two years.
The DoF said that the suspensions were also due to their non-declaration of real property, misdeclaration of acquisition costs, the failure to submit, late filing and error in judgment in their respective SALNs.
Some were also charged due to the non-declaration of business interests, and failure to secure travel authorities.
The DoF also noted that some who were suspended will be charged with criminal cases.
“The Ombudsman found that eight BoC employees and one BIR employee committed Perjury and Falsification by Public Officer under the Revised Penal Code; and for their SALN violations, Section 7 of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and Section 8, in relation to Section 11, of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees which may be punished by imprisonment not exceeding five (5) years, or a fine not exceeding five thousand pesos (P5,000), or both, and, in the discretion of the court of competent jurisdiction, disqualification to hold public office.”
“For failure to secure authority to travel to Singapore, a Supervising Tax Specialist of the BoC was found guilty of Simple Dishonesty aggravated by committing it twice: from January 1993 to February 1993 and September 1995 to October 1995 and was ordered suspended for three months without pay. A City Treasurer likewise suffered the same fate,” the Finance department added.
Finance Undersecretary Bayani H. Agabin of the DoF’s legal department said earlier that they are currently conducting lifestyle checks on all employees under its umbrella, which includes the BIR, BoC, Bureau of the Treasury, Bureau of Local Government Finance, and the Securities and Exchange Commission, among others.
Last year, the DoF took similar punitive action against 14 officials and employees. — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan
