OMB suspends 9 Coast Guard officials

The Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) ordered yesterday the suspension of nine officials of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) over their reported misuse of cash advances worth over 127 million.

Ordered preventively suspended for a period of six months without pay were Commander Romeo Liwanag Jr., Commander Tito Alvin Andal, Commodore Joselito Dela Cruz, Commander Christine Pauline Diciano, Lieutenant Commander Fatima Aleli Angeles, Captain Juancho Marano, Commodore Athelo Ybañez, Captain Julius Caesar Victor Marvin Lim, and Captain Teotimo Borja Jr.

Ybañez was promoted recently to Rear Admiral; while Borja was promoted to Commodore.

Their case stemmed from the factfinding investigation conducted by the Special Team of Investigators of the Field Investigation Bureau (FIB) of the Deputy Ombudsman for the Military and Other Law Enforcement Officers (MOLEO).

The investigation focused on the liquidation reports of several cash advances totaling 127,059,817.50 granted during the calendar years 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 to 11 different Special Disbursing Officers (SDOs).

Ombudsman investigators said the liquidation was “marked with irregularities.”

They reportedly failed to comply with the rules and regulations on the grant, utilization and liquidation of cash advances as provided by the Commission on Audit (COA) and to conduct public bidding on the purchase of items by the government.

They were also faulted for the submission of questionable documents as part of the liquidation reports. The investigation showed that 305 invoices or official receipts were submitted for liquidation but a significant number of these were found to be “spurious, or at the very least, not the same with those on file.”

What investigators found alarming was that several of the suppliers who issued receipts could not even be located.