For the second time, an employee from a government financial institution flunked the lifestyle investigation conducted by the Revenue Integrity Protection Service (RIPS).
RIPS lodged criminal and administrative complaints with the Office of the Ombudsman on February 9, 2012 against Landbank’s Agrarian Affairs Specialist ELMER LUCEA OLORES after the latter was confirmed to have accumulated unlawful wealth beyond his salary as a public servant and other lawful income, failed to file his sworn Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Networth (SALNs), and reported conflicting information in the same documents.
Olores, who is presently stationed at LBP Agrarian Operations Center (AOC), Region XI, Davao City, did not report several assets in his SALNs, which includes the following: a 400-square meter residential lot in Quirino District, Padada, Davao del Sur; a 2-storey residential house in Babak, Samal Island; and a couple of motorcycles registered separately in his name and that of his wife. Olores likewise did not disclose any cash on hand or in any bank account.
In the course of RIPS investigation, Olores was found to have failed to file his SALNs for the years 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, and 2009, in gross violation of Section 7 of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act in relation to Section 8 of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards of Public Officials and Employees.
The foregoing is confirmed in the letter compliance dated 5 August 2011 issued by the Department Manager, Personnel Administration Department of the LBP which furnished copies of respondent’s SALN for the years 2008 and 2010 only. Likewise, the Administrative Assistant V of the Office of the Ombudsman, Mindanao issued a certification dated 20 December 2011 that the only copies of respondent’s SALN available in their office are those for the years 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010, RIPS said in its Complaint.
Pertinent documentary evidence showed that apart from his salary, respondent and his family had no additional income streams that would enable them to accumulate their present properties.
His SALNs revealed that in 1990, Olores declared only a handful of personal assets, such as a typewriter and a Honda motorcycle CG125 worth P5,000.00 and P13,500.00, respectively, while he did not report any real property under his name. In 1996, however, barely a year after his appointment to his current position, his assets enjoyed a major boost worth P409,000.00, consisting of farm lots in Trento and Rosario, both in Agusan del Sur; a chainsaw; and three (3) personal vehicles, namely: Fuso Canter UV, Ford Fierra, and a motorcycle. During that time, he was only receiving an annual gross compensation of P123,600.00.
In an incessant pattern of property acquisitions, Olores’ SALNs also showed that he purchased farm lots in Panabo, Davao del Norte and Tagbina, Surigao del Sur, for the aggregate amounts of P380,000.00 sometime in 2000 and 2001. However, his gross salaries for the same years were only P181,200.00 and P193,200.00, respectively.
Based on his SALNs, it appeared that in 2005, for only P270,000.00, Olores managed to acquire a Fuso Canter Light Truck and a Mitsubishi Mini Dump Truck, while subsisting only on a yearly compensation of P282,000.00.
Toting up his personal assets in 2007, Olores’ SALNs disclosed that he acquired a Mitsubishi Pajero for P280,000.00 and a chainsaw for P50,000.00 while infused P140,000.00 in his cattle investment. Outdoing himself, he also paid off a P300,000 bank loan notwithstanding that he only had an annual income of P301,140.00, sans taxes.
For 2010, his SALNs unveiled a P450,000 worth John Deere farm tractor even though Olores’ reported gross salary was only P318,660.00 per year.
Similarly, Olores’ SALNs divulged more than a few discrepancies regarding his total assets, as it was found out that several real and personal properties were belatedly declared when these were, as a matter of fact, purchased years ago.
As it stands, Olores’ Service Record indicates that his gross annual income is only P318,660.00.
Olores’ illegal acts are penalized under Section 7, Republic Act 3019, as amended; Section 8 (A), Republic Act 6713; Falsification of Official Documents and Perjury under the Articles 171 (4) and 183, Revised Penal Code; Grave Misconduct, Gross Neglect of Duty, and Serious Dishonesty under the Revised Rules on Administrative Cases in the Civil Service (RRACCS).
In its Complaint, RIPS urged the Office of the Ombudsman that Olores be placed under preventive suspension without pay pending investigation of the administrative and criminal cases against the latter pursuant to Section 24, Republic Act 6770, or the Ombudsman Act of 1989.
If found criminally and administratively liable, the Davao City-based LBP official shall be dismissed from the service while his properties will be forfeited by the government in accordance with Section 2, Republic Act 1379, also known as Forfeiture of Ill-Gotten Wealth.
Previously, RIPS filed criminal and administrative complaints against Gil Noble, a Division Chief of the same Bank last June 16, 2011.
The Finance Department’s anti-corruption arm was created pursuant to Executive Order No. 259, series of 2003, and has, to its credit, has initiated one hundred three (103) graft and lifestyle cases against one hundred forty four (144) personalities, sixty (60) of whom were suspended from office while twenty one (21) of them were dismissed from service.
In accordance with Section 2 of its Charter, RIPS shall have jurisdiction over all officials and employees of the Department of Finance, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Bureau of Customs and all other agencies attached to the Department, including the Land Bank of the Philippines, under which Olores is presently connected.
DOF Media Ref No. 12-007
