DepEd exec, immigration officer flunk lifestyle check

A division of schools’ superintendent and an officer of the Bureau of Immigration at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) were charged with graft and unexplained wealth at the Office of the Ombudsman yesterday after they flunked the government’s lifestyle check.

The Anti-Corruption Swift Action Team (AC-SWAT), under the Office of the President, and the National Bureau of Investigation, which conducted the lifestyle check, filed the charges against Edith Doblada, a schools’ division superintendent in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) and immigration officer Rodrigo Pedrealba.

The two were accused of violating the Anti-Graft Law (Republic Act 3019) and the Anti-Ill-Gotten Wealth Law (RA 1379).

Doblada is the wife of Norberto Doblada Jr., a former sheriff of the Pasig regional trial court who was earlier dismissed by the Supreme Court for unexplained wealth.

Mrs. Doblada declared in 2003 that her net worth was P5.6 million when her salary was just P283,944 a year, or P22,662 a month.

But a closer scrutiny of her assets showed that she has three undeclared properties valued at more than P622,590, including a P369,000 lot in Batingan, Rizal, another lot in Rizal worth P60,390, and a third one at St. Monique Valais Subdivision estimated to be worth P193,200.

Among the properties she declared were a P3.6-million house and lot in Binangonan, Rizal, a residential lot in Baguio City worth P970,000, a P1-million "fish pen" in Binangonan, P710,000 worth of appliances, P30,000 in jewelry and P137,000 in "bank deposits."

Immigration records also showed that the Department of Education (DepEd) official was a "frequent traveler" who has gone overseas "10 times in the past 10 years," or at least once a year, the seven-page complaint against her stated.

"There is no way by which one can stretch his imagination as to explain how Doblada, a government official with a meager monthly income, can own such numerous real properties," added the AC-SWAT and NBI said in their complaint, a copy of which was obtained by The STAR.

On the other hand, Pedrealba, who is assigned at the NAIA Terminal 1, was found to have undeclared assets, like real estate properties in Bulacan and five vehicles, when his monthly salary was just P13,065 in 2004.

"In the absence of any legitimate business and taking into consideration the meager income Pedrealba receives as an immigration officer, there exists no other plausible explanation than that the funds used to purchase the vehicles came from illegitimate sources," the nine-page complaint against him stated.

Among the vehicles Pedrealba owns are a 1996 Honda Civic (with license plate ULW-977) worth P827,000; a Ford utility vehicle (XPH-241) worth P955,000; a 2001 Ford Lynx sedan (XAE-254); and a 2004 Yin motorcycle (UU-4262).

A P1.1-million Honda CRV, which his father drives, allegedly came from him. The elder Pedrealba retired from the Land Transportation Office in 1993.