DOF: Ombudsman suspended two Customs officials

The Office of the Ombudsman has suspended for six months two Bureau of Customs officials for failing to declare million pesos worth of assets. The graft cases arose from separate complaints the Department of Finance (DOF) filed last year against Customs Collector I Rudy M. Amistad and Customs Operations Officer III Vivian D. Sacluti. Amistad, according to the DOF Revenue Integrity Protection Service (RIPS), committed “glaring intentional omission, and a blatant falsehood under oath" when he failed to declare 13 parcels of land he owned jointly with his wife. The RIPS also accused Amistad of under-declaring by P2.5 million, the value of a P3 million property in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu. It also found that Amistad did not file his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs) for many years from 1970 to 2008. “At this stage of the investigation, the pieces of evidence submitted by the complainants against the respondent are strong enough to warrant his preventive suspension," the Office of the Ombudsman said in its suspension order. Meanwhile, Sacluti was suspended for her failure to declare in her SALNs, a business she owned jointly with her husband, Teotimo U. Sacluti. The Office of the Ombudsman said the Sacluti couple should have declared their business interest in the auto-detailing venture registered under the name of the husband. “As regards the alleged non-declaration of Bodgie Motor Works in the respondent’s SALN for the years 2000-2005, this office finds substantial evidence for violation [of the law]," the Ombudsman said in the decision. The suspension order against Amistad was issued last Feb. 9 while the decision against Sacluti was dated March 9. The DOF on Wednesday said it received the order on Sacluti only on May 10. The DOF filed 84 cases against 124 public servants. Nineteen officials were dismissed from service while 49 were suspended. — With Earl Rosero/VS, GMA News