Ombudsman bags conviction of BOC official

Amid questions about its efficiency and commitment to prosecute erring officials, the Office of the Ombudsman on Sunday said it bagged the conviction of a Bureau of Customs official for graft and estafa before the Sandiganbayan. The Ombudsman said the Sandiganbayan's Fifth Division has found Customs' Director III for Financial Services Jorge Monroy guilty of violating Republic Act No. 3019 (Anti-Graft Practices Act) and of committing estafa, which is punishable under the Revised Penal Code. He was sentenced to six years and one month to 12 years in jail, and was disqualified from holding public office for violating RA 3019. The anti-graft court also sentenced him to another four years and two months to 14 years, eight months and one day behind bars for the crime of estafa. In July 2000, Monroy sold a confiscated sports utility vehicle for P1.4 million to buyer Juliet Lim-Co, saying impounded vehicles are cheaper. When the vehicle was supposed to be delivered on July 27 that year, Monroy supposedly told Co that the vehicle could not be released because someone from his office ran off with the money. In its ruling, the Sandiganbayan said, "It was that false representation to sell the vehicle at a cheaper price coupled with Monroy’s statement made to Co that the vehicles will not be released without his signature, that more than induced Co to part with her money in the amount of P1.4 million, which allegedly was immediately unlawfully taken away by someone who was not even part of the transaction, necessarily resulting in damage to Co in the said amount of P1.4 million," The court also ordered Monroy to give the money back to Co. The Office of the Ombudsman issued the statement amid questions about Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez' mettle in going after the "big fish," or high-profile corrupt officials. Gutierrez is facing two impeachment complaints at the House of Representatives' justice committee, but the Supreme Court has suspended the proceedings. The High Court will hear oral arguments on the case next Tuesday. Last week, Solicitor General Jose Anselmo Cadiz said President Benigno Aquino III created the Truth Commission, the body that will probe corruption scandals in the time of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's administration because of the Ombudsman's low conviction rate of 6 percent. —Sophia Dedace/VS, GMANews.TV