Corruption drive gains traction
The CA defines dishonesty as the concealment or distortion of truth, which shows lack of integrity or a disposition to defraud, chest, deceive or betray or intent to violate the truth
In line with the government’s intensified efforts against corruption in its ranks, the Court of Appeals (CA) affirmed the dismissal of a Customs operations officer from service.
The Department of Finance (DoF) said that Miriam Casurayan, a Customs Operations Officer III in the Bureau of Customs (BoC) was found liable for serious dishonesty in making false declarations in her annual Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN).
Finance Undersecretary Bayani Agabin said that the DoF and BoC will immediately take action on the CA decision, in line with President Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign against corruption.
“As a government employee, it is incumbent upon Casurayan to provide truthful disclosures in her SALN... the full disclosure of one’s wealth in SALN is a means of preventing and curtailing corruption and maintaining a standard of honesty in public service,” Agabin said.
Based on an investigation conducted by the DoF-Revenue Integrity Protection Service (DoF-RIPS), the Customs official bought a property in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan in 1998, the item she failed to declare in her SALN.
Still, the DoF-RIPS said that Casurayan failed to declare such asset not only once but for seven years that she was in the service, mirroring the deliberateness of her action.
The CA defines dishonesty as the concealment or distortion of truth, which shows lack of integrity or a disposition to defraud, chest, deceive or betray or intent to violate the truth.
Aside from dismissing her from the service, the Court also ordered the cancellation of Casurayan’s civil service eligibility, her disqualification from taking civil service examinations, forfeiture of her retirement benefits and perpetual disqualification from holding public office.