THE Ombudsman on Monday indicted former Isabela governor Maria Gracia Cielo Padaca for failing to filed the required Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs) from 2008 to 2010.
According to the Commission on Appointment Profile and Investigation Report and the certification issued of the Human Resource Department of Isabela provincial government, Padaca was not able to file her SALNs within the deadline set by the law.
Padaca, who was also an elections commissioner from 2012 to 2014, denied the accusations and claimed that “she was surprised upon being informed by the Human Resoure Department that only her SALNs for 2004 and 2006 were on file.”
The Ombudsman ruled that “under Section 8 of RA 6713, all government officials and employees are mandated to submit their SALNs stating the required information on or before April 30 of every year” and that the “salutary purpose of requiring public officials to submit their SALN is aimed at curtailing and minimizing the opportunities for official corruption, as well as at maintaining a standard of honesty in the public service.”
“It strains belief that from 2007 to 2010, respondent not once tried to obtain a receiving copy of the SALNs which she supposedly accomplished and transmitted to HRD” as “it is customary, nay essential, as a hallmark of sound records-keeping, not to mention that it is in accord with human experience, to obtain a copy bearing the date and time of receipt cum acknowledgement of the receiving office/employee, for one’s own files of all vital public documents which public officials and employees are required to submit,” the Ombudsman’s decision read.
“It is difficult to fathom how respondent would be unfamiliar with such a practice or that she has not altogether adopted this procedure given her lengthy stint in government service.”