Mordeno upheld the recommendation of the committee tasked to investigate Broklita Rodriguez for alleged violation of the Republic Act 6713, otherwise known as the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.
The committee found Rodriguez guilty of disgraceful and immoral conduct because of her dishonesty prior to her entering the government service.
Rodriguez, who is assigned to the Basak Elementary School in that town, used the family name of her second husband when she entered into the government service even if their marriage was not valid. Rodriguez allegedly falsified official documents from the court declaring the presumed death of her first husband, Bernardo Rodriguez.
The committee recommended to Mordeno that Rodriguez be reprimanded, but the DepEd official did not only uphold its findings as he also increased the penalty against the teacher to a one-month suspension without pay.
In his three-page order, Mordeno said the allegations against Rodriguez were supported by material evidence. The order said Rodriguez should have observed the highest moral and good respectable image being a public school teacher.
"It is very emphatic in our Constitution that public office is a public trust," the order said, adding that public officials and employees occupy a delicate position that demands highest standard of morality. - Fred P. Languido/LPM