Unexplained wealth: MARINA ex-director found guilty

CEBU, Philippines - Because of his failure to negate accusations of unexplained wealth, a former director of the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) was found guilty of an administrative case.

Graft investigator Yvette Christine Soleng recommended the dismissal of Glenn Cabañez from service with cancellation of eligibility, forfeiture of retirement benefits and perpetual disqualification from re-employment in the government service.

Soleng recommended for Secretary Manuel Roxas III, secretary of the Department of Transportation and Communication, to implement the order immediately upon receipt and to submit a compliance report.

Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Pelagio Apostol approved Soleng’s recommendations.

Cabañez was found guilty of serious dishonesty and grave misconduct because of unexplained wealth reflected in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2007 amounting to P3,164,470.31.

Complaints against him state that he acquired wealth amounting to P3,164,470.31 consisting of personal and real property improvements “manifestly disproportionate” to his income and that of his wife.

As reflected in his SALN, he acquired a vehicle in 1998 worth P440,000 but his income was only P264,732.

According to the complainant, the Field Investigation Office (FIO) of the Office of the Ombudsman, the respondent then had unexplained wealth in the amount of P175,268.

 The complainant said Cabañez has an unexplained wealth of P260,268 in 1999 for declaring a vehicle worth P525,000 in his SALN while his income was P264,732.

 In 2000, Cabañez renovated his real property at Pacita Complex II, San Pedro Laguna amounting to P1,421,146.95.

According to the complainant, he had increased his personal assets to P390,000 while his annual income was only P460,098.64, with unexplained wealth of P1,351,048.31.

In the year 2007 when he acquired a Toyota RAV4 for P1,701,000, his annual income was P573,114.

 The complainant added that since the Bureau of Internal Revenue certified that Cabañez has no record of Income Tax Returns filed, “it can be deduced that he solely depended on his salary as government employee and that he has no other source of income to support the acquisition of properties in question.”

 The complainant further stated that the P3,164,470.31 unexplained wealth of Cabañez was a “conservative estimate” as the cost of living were not included in the computation because the latter was not able to gather evidence to determine its cost.

 Denial

Cabañez denied the accusations. He said he did not consider the income of his wife in the acquisition of the properties in question.

 “Even if the computation would be based on my separate income alone, the comparison in Table 5 would show that there is actually no huge disparity between the aggregate total income which I earned and the properties supposedly acquired,” he said.

 Cabañez argued that the complainant “maliciously” did not state the total of his separate income alone from 1998 to 2007 which is P4,344,171.11 compared to the total supposed value acquired assets which is P5,182,146.90 or a difference of P837,975.80.

 He added that his wife has been employed for 15 years at the United Coconut Planters Life Assurance Corp. (COCOLIFE) and had a basic monthly salary of P18,427 or annual income of P221,124.

 “If combined, annual incomes would yield P485,856. For 15 years, shared annual income from 1999 would be about P7,287,840,” he said.

 Cabañez said the vehicles worth P400,000 and P525,000 were acquired through loans while the motorcycle was bought using his mother’s money.

 He added the improvements used on the real property were financed not only by his wife’s retirement benefits but also with the help of his mother and sister.

 “I declared them in my SALN since they are considered communal/conjugal properties. I did it in good faith and without intent of committing any wrong,” he said.

But according to the graft investigator, the evidence presented revealed that there was a difference as to the total amount of compensation, benefits, allowances and other remuneration received by respondent in the years 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.

 Cabañez did not present evidence that the vehicles were bought through loans, nor did he identify the companies or persons from which the loans were obtained.

As to the improvement of his real property in Laguna, Soleng said he did not present any papers to prove that his wife was granted retirement benefits from COCOLIFE. — (FREEMAN)