Ombudsman suspends PCSO, DENR employees
Ordered suspended according to the 15 August decision of the Office of the Ombudsman is PCSO Officer in Charge Branch Manager for Pangasinan Editha Romero
The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the 90-day preventive suspension of a Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) official over her alleged inaction to an order of former General Manager Alexander Balutan seeking to stop the supposed illegal operation of Small Town Lottery (STL) in Pangasinan.
Ordered suspended according to the 15 August decision of the Office of the Ombudsman is PCSO Officer in Charge Branch Manager for Pangasinan Editha Romero.
The other respondents in the complaint filed by Speedgame President David Diciano: Assistant General Manager Remeliza Gabuyo, Legal Department Officer Anna Liza Inciong and Manager Leila Galang however were not meted with the same penalty.
The complaint filed by Diciano alleges that Romero, including the other respondents committed Gross Misconduct and Gross Neglect of Duty for their alleged failure to act on the order of Balutan to put a stop to the STL operation of former Speedgame President Edward Aguilar.
Aguilar was replaced by Diciano as Speedgame president on 27 August.
Balutan on February 1 directed Aguilar to immediately stop from further operating Speedgame in connection with the STL. All concerned PCSO personnel were also directed to implement the directive.
The PCSO’s order was not followed by Aguilar’s group as it continued to operate STL through Facebook Live.
“After an initial evaluation of the administrative complaint and its supporting documents, this Office finds sufficient basis to warrant preventive suspension of respondent Romero only, pending investigation of this case,” the decision read.
The requisites of the Ombudsman to issue a preventive suspension order are provided in Section 24 of Republic Act 6770 or the Ombudsman Act of 1989 and Section
9 Rule III of Administrative Order 7.
The Office of the Ombudsman has also ordered the 90-day preventive suspension of three employees from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Subject of the order were Community Environment and Natural Resources Officer Bernabe Garnace, Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Officer Fransisco Gallego Jr., Community Environment and Natural Resources Officer Salvador Manglinong Jr.
The charges against the employees for alleged grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service stemmed from the filing of Reclaimed Land Leases Application covering three lots measuring 22,445 square meters of Auxilliary Missionaries of the Assumption Inc. (AMA) — a non-stock and non-profit corporation.
In 2011 Garnace denied AMA’s request to renew its lease, which expired in 1994 for another 25 years. AMA was informed that that its request has not been acted upon because of lacking requirements.
Following the denial of AMA’s bid, Gallego approved an Investigation Report of the subdivision survey that subdivided the lot occupied by AMA into four sub-lots which resulted to the reduction of the area being occupied by AMA.
The complainant said Garnace conceived the idea of subdividing the lot being leased by AMA without legal justification and without consultation with other DENR officials regarding their plan.
The complaint likewise alleges that since Garnace and Maglinong did not consult DENR officials on their move, the said is considered unauthorized.
Maglinong, meanwhile, was accused of unreasonable delay in the disposition of Miscellaneous Lease Application which was filed by the organization in November 2013.
It was only on 24 June 2019 that Manglinong submitted the Complete Staff Work with a recommendation for the conduct of a technical conference to apprise AMA of the reason for the
reduction of the area.