At Customs, even a security guard lives it up

A Customs security guard assigned at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) is now accused of unexplained wealth before the Ombudsman after failing a lifestyle check.

The Revenue Integrity Protection Service (RIPS) of the Department of Finance (DOF) said Raul Enriquez was unable to explain how he managed to acquire several prime properties and a fleet of luxury vehicles notwithstanding his P100,500 annual salary working as a security guard for the Bureau of Customs.

The DOF said Enriquez was able to acquire a 379-square-meter unit at Parkwood Greens Executive Village in Maybunga, Pasig City, another 300-square-meter property and a 216-square-meter lot located in the same subdivision, each valued at P2 million.

Enriquez also purchased a two-story building on Washington street in the same subdivision in 1999 with an estimated market value of P1.4 million.

The DOF said Enriquez also bought a house and lot located on No. 9 M.H. del Pilar street in San Nicolas, Pasig City which was not included in his statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs) from 1987 to 1999.

The security guard managed to maintain a fleet of luxury vehicles that included a 2005 model Ford Escape and a 2000 model Toyota Corolla.

Investigators said the Land Transportation Office (LTO) confirmed the vehicles were registered under the name of Enriquez and his wife Ma. Victoria.

DOF-RIPS lawyer Romeo Tomas said a walk-in informant had tipped them off earlier about Enriquez’s unexplained wealth.

Tomas explained that Enriquez receives a monthly salary of only P8,000.

Finance officials gathered that Enriquez amassed his wealth from 1987 to 2004 while working as a security guard at the NAIA Customs House in Pasay City.

"With Enriquez earning only a modest salary of P100,500 a year, his substantial property ownership of the above is, without doubt, manifestly out of proportion to his lawful income," Tomas said.

Enriquez had worked for the Customs bureau between 1987 and 2004, earning from P28,536 in 1991 to P100,500 a year during his last year of employment.

During this period, the DOF-RIPS noted Enriquez had acquired two prime lots in Parkwood Greens Executive Village.

In 1997, the DOF-RIPS report said Enriquez acquired yet another property in the same exclusive village worth an estimated P2 million at the time when he was earning only P72,312 a year as a security guard.

"And again, while purchasing the same property in cash, Enriquez managed to shell out (money for) a two-story mansion in 1999 when his annual gross salary was at most P80,772," the DOF reported.

Enriquez claimed the money he used to purchase the properties came from business loans.

Enriquez declared he had some family businesses in his statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs), among them Vaness Salon, Vaness Dress Shop and R.V.E. Trading/Garments.

His claim, however, was dismissed by the DOF which said "no amount of mathematical wisdom, despite some alleged loans — that remain unsubstantiated and vague and that were declared in his SALNs without any detail contrary to the requirements of RA 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) — he supposedly obtained, can explain how he acquired all the above stated properties.

"Considering his limited source of income as security guard for the years 1987 to 2004, the DOF-RIPS filed the complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman," Tomas said.

Even with the additional income from his business firms, Enriquez was not able to justify how he acquired such massive wealth, the DOF said.

"The above circumstances are indicative of unexplained wealth that cannot in any manner be justified from other legitimate sources including two family businesses," the RIPS report said.

All the while, Enriquez was paying minimal income taxes while owning and accumulating "unexplained wealth manifestly out of proportion of his lawful gross income," the DOF noted.

Aside from graft charges, Enriquez also faces charges of violating the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, among other administrative charges.

Earlier, the DOF filed the same charges against a top BIR official.

The DOF-RIPS has been cracking down on graft practices in the government’s two major revenue-generating agencies in an attempt to plug revenue leaks often criticized by creditors and ratings agencies as a chronic symptom of bad governance.

The DOF has also dismissed seven government officials, including five revenue collectors, on charges of grave misconduct, dishonesty and other offenses.

The dismissals came as credit-rating agencies said the Arroyo administration needed to do more to demonstrate that it was capable of delivering its target revenue collections, balancing the national budget and ultimately reducing public sector debt to manageable levels.