Bro. Andrew fined P175,000, DECS exec fired for SU

Former Education Secretary Andrew Gonzalez was ordered by the Ombudsman to pay a fine of P175,000 after he was found guilty of the administrative offense of misusing P12 million in government funds in 1999.

Another official, former Undersecretary for Finance Antonio Valdez, was dismissed from the service and stripped of his chance to re-enter government. All his retirement benefits were also forfeited.

Two others — former Undersecretaries Bartolome Carale (legal affairs) and Victor Manhit (external relations) — were also made to pay a fine equivalent to six months’ salary because they were liable for "simple misconduct."

In a five-page order, Ombudsman Aniano Desierto said the supposed penalty was suspension, but since the officials involved were no longer in government, it was necessary to convert these sanctions to fines which would be deducted from their retirement pay.

"The penalty of suspension should be proportionally converted to fine, to be deducted from respondents’ respective receivables or retirement benefits from DECS or from any government agency where they may be employed," the order stated.

The P175,000 fine on Gonzalez, according to Desierto, was based on his P35,000 monthly salary. Having been guilty of conduct prejudicial to the service, he was told to pay a fine equivalent to five months’ salary.

Gonzalez and his subordinates were accused by former Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile last year of soliciting money from the Land Bank of the Philippines in 1999, and diverting these funds to buy six luxury cars — a Ford Expedition and five Mitsubishi Pajeros.

"The records clearly establish Gonzalez’s dereliction of duty. As head of DECS, he stamped his imprimatur on the irregular acts of Valdez, particularly on the maintenance of an unreported bank account," the Ombudsman said.

Graft investigators led by Joselito Fangon discovered that Valdez deposited the LBP donation in a "special account" and "intentionally" concealed this from the Department of Budget and Management and the Commission on Audit.

"His (Valdez’) intentional non-observance of pertinent financial guidelines on receipt and disposition of received public monies is constitutive of grave misconduct. Such (are) flagrant and serious infractions of the law," Desierto emphasized.

Manhit’s and Carale’s administrative liability stemmed from the fact that they were aware of the account but did not report it to the DBM, the COA or the accounting division of DECS.

"Considering that they did not have physical possession of the special account of the checkbook and immediate control of the account, unlike Valdes, they may be only held liable for simple misconduct," the Ombudsman said.