DENR chief cleared by Ombudsman

An administrative complaint accusing Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Elisea Gozun of falsifying her school records has been dismissed by the Office of the Ombudsman.

In a five-page resolution, Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo approved last June 23 the junking of the complaint lodged by Lauro Paglinawan against Gozun.

Gozun allegedly influenced her appointment to the Cabinet post by submitting fake school records to the Commission on Appointments.

Paglinawan filed his complaint against Gozun in September last year on the basis of a certification he secured from Southwestern University in Cebu, which said that it had no record to show that a certain Elisea Gillera graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in 1975.

But Marcelo pointed out that Paglinawan used Gozun’s maiden name when he issued his query as to the authenticity of Gozun’s school records with the university’s Alumni Association Office when the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) chief got married in 1971, or five years prior to her graduation.

"Since contracting marriage on June 4, 1971, she had been using the name Elisea Gozun. It follows, therefore, that what appears in her scholastic records in Southwestern University is the name Elisea Gozun," the resolution, penned by graft investigation and prosecution officer Mothalib Onos, stated.

Last January, the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) cleared Gozun of charges of conflict of interest that was filed by lawyer Juliano Nacino, former director of the DENR’s legal division.

The case stemmed from Gozun’s alleged interests in Gaia South Inc., a consultancy firm that was awarded with a contract in 2001 by the DENR for its air pollution control program with the Asian Development Bank.

PAGC chairman Dario Rama noted that Gozun divested herself of any interest in the company in 1994. Gozun was appointed to the DENR in January 2002.