Mountain Province board member dismissed for dishonesty

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — A member of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Mountain Province has been dismissed by the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with his cash advance amounting to P7,500.

Romeo Pagedped was found guilty of serious dishonesty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service for falsifying documents when he liquidated the cash advance, according to a seven-page decision recently approved by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales.

Pagedped was slapped with the accessory penalties of perpetual disqualification from holding public office, cancellation of his eligibility, forfeiture of retirement benefits and prohibition from taking civil service examination.  

Investigation showed Pagedped made the cash advance to attend a Civil Service Commission (CSC) summit on administrative governance in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) from June 20 to 22, 2012.

Graft probers said Pagedped submitted receipts and a certificate of appearance even though he did not attend the conference. He also collected an additional P460 to cover his travel expenses.

“The affidavits of his witnesses attesting to his purported presence at the summit cannot prevail over…official documents of the CSC-CAR, such as the daily reports and the attendance sheets,” the ombudsman ruling stated.

Pagedped denied the allegations, saying he only failed to sign the attendance sheets because he came in late for the meetings. The Commission on Audit did not issue a notice of disallowance or suspension of the cash advance, he added.