Ombudsman orders dismissal of 3 Mindanao officials

The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered three government officials in Mindanao dismissed from the government service for dishonesty, grave misconduct and neglect of duty.

Dismissed were Calvin Akut Sr., assistant provincial administrator of Misamis Oriental; Pendatun Laja, provincial treasurer of Tawi-Tawi; and Norhaida Ty, cashier III of the Department of Labor and Employment in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) based in Cotabato City.

Akut, according to the Office of the Ombudsman, failed to liquidate with the Misamis Oriental provincial government cash advances totaling P156,457.42 despite repeated demands by the provincial auditor’s office.

Based on a complaint filed by the Commission on Audit’s Region 10 office, Akut received cash advances of P250,000 and P150,000 on May 23, 2003 and July 4, 2003, respectively.

Of the amount, Akut was only able to liquidate P243,542.58 as of June 30, 2004, prompting the COA to file a complaint for dishonesty and grave misconduct against him.

For his part, Laja was found guilty of misconduct, neglect of duty and dishonesty for his failure to remit employees’ premiums to the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).

In their complaint, employees of the Tawi-Tawi provincial government said the GSIS denied their applications for retirement pension benefits and salary loans because Laja had failed to remit their contributions, which were regularly deducted from their monthly salaries.

In his counter-affidavit, Laja argued that he should not be faulted for the incomplete payment of the employees’ GSIS contributions since it was not solely the duty of the provincial treasurer.

Laja said the accounting and governor’s offices are also involved in the preparation and remittance of GSIS contributions.

The Ombudsman, however, ruled that Laja’s arguments were not convincing as there were several instances when he bypassed the accounting office in preparing the lists of remittances for salary and loan repayments and the optional premiums of provincial employees.

Ty, meanwhile, was dismissed for grave misconduct and gross neglect of duty for failing to release the three months’ salaries and other benefits of complainant Birry Lomangcolob, a mediator-arbiter of the DOLE-ARMM office.

In his complaint, Lomangcolob said Ty failed to release his salaries for October to December 2002 and yearend bonus and cash gifts totaling P58,420.48 despite his repeated demands and two memoranda from the regional DOLE office.

The Ombudsman said Ty failed to submit her counter-affidavit, thus effectively waiving her right to do so.