Gozun: Falsification raps a demolition job

Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Elisea Gozun said yesterday there are persons out to cut short her stay in government.

She confirmed that a case had been filed against her before the Office of the Ombudsman for allegedly falsifying her education records presented to the Commission on Appointments (CA).

Gozun assumed the top post at DENR last December, replacing Heherson Alvarez. The CA approved her appointment March 23.

Gozun said she is still waiting for a copy of the complaint to reach her office and she will then consult her lawyers to answer the charges.

She, however, learned that the complainant accused her of not having earned a bachelor’s degree in social work from Southwestern University in Cebu City as she had claimed.

"I admit I was not able to finish my B.S. Social Work course at the University of the Philippines (UP) but I was able to finish my A.B. General at the Southwestern University in Cebu City," Gozun said.

She attended UP Diliman from 1968 to 1971 but when martial law was declared in 1972, she went underground after having been identified as a student activist.

"Dahil wala noon writ of habeas corpus, I had to stop going to school, alam mo na aktibista tayo noong araw," Gozun told The STAR.

When she was apprehended and later released, her parents decided not to send her back to UP and instead enrolled her at Southwestern University.

"I finished my A.B. General degree in 1975. I have to search for my transcript of records. I think I have it in our house," Gozun said. "How can I take up my master’s if I was not able to obtain my bachelor’s degree? That would be ridiculous naman."

She clarified that she has yet to finish her master’s degree in environmental management at the Philippine Women’s University.

"Before anyone else could accuse me of exaggerating my educational achievement, sasabihin ko na, wala pa akong thesis," Gozun said.

She also told The STAR she is bracing herself for another case filed against her, this time for graft. She said she got wind of reports that charges of unexplained wealth against her will be "resurrected."

"Well, I am not afraid. Di ito pinansin ng anti-graft commission noon kaya I heard this will be filed before the Ombudsman naman," Gozun said, referring to the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission chaired by Dario Rama.

Asked who could be behind these attacks against her, Gozun said she has some idea but "ayaw kong magsalita at intriga pa iyan, eh."

She added that this barrage of accusations will not deter her from doing her work at the DENR and from being an effective public servant.

"Kailangang gawin ang dapat gawin at hindi dapat pagtuunan ng pansin ang mga intriga. I don’t have any skeleton in the closet, so I don’t have anything to be afraid of or be worried about," the DENR chief said.

Two complaints were filed before the Ombudsman yesterday by Lauro Paglinawan, a resident of Barangay Culiat, Quezon City.

He charged Gozun with falsification of public documents for stating in the biodata she submitted to the CA that she obtained a bachelor’s degree in social work from Southwestern University.

Based on a certification issued by an official of the university’s alumni association, "it appears that she never graduated and that she was never enrolled in that institution," Paglinawan said in a statement.

He also complained that Gozun’s net worth suspiciously increased after her appointment as DENR secretary last December, as reflected in her statement of assets and liabilities submitted to the CA during the confirmation proceedings.

While Paglinawan did not specify any charge in the complaint he filed with the Ombudsman, he said in a statement that he filed graft charges against her. — With Delon Porcalla