Ombuds suspends Customs employee over SALN declaration

An employee of the Bureau of Customs Lapu-Lapu City has been suspended for six months and one day after he was found administratively liable for an alleged nondisclosure of the true amount of his assets in his Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs).

German Antopina, a document processor of the Bureau of Customs, MEPZ II Sub-Port of Mactan, Lapu-Lapu City, was found guilty of dishonesty by Graft Investigation and Prosecution Officer II Carmelle BaybaySuson of the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas.

“Thus, respondent committed the administrative offense of dishonesty when he concealed and distorted the truth in the declaration of the value of assets in his 2006 to 2010 SALNs,” the decision from the Ombudsman’s office read.

The Field Investigation Office (FIO) of the Office of the Ombudsman said they received allegations of Antopina’s corrupt practices through an anonymous text message.

Acting on the report, they learned that Antopina has allegedly under-declared the acquisition cost of his house in Barangay Gun-ob, LapuLapu City. The acquisition cost for the house was declared as P474,065 in his 2007 SALN, but the property was assessed at P1,051,149 in its Tax Declaration (TD).

“FIO pointed out that the valuation in the TD is more or less the correct acquisition cost of the house since before a TD is issued to a newly constructed house, the Office of the City Assessor conducts an ocular inspection to appraise the value of the property,” the FIO stressed.

Likewise, FIO alleged Antopina did not declare the acquisition cost of the land in Barangay Gun-ob, which he acquired in 2005, according to his SALN.

In his counter-affidavit, Antopina admitted that he did not know the proper way to fillup his SALNs which explained the discrepancies. He claimed it was not his intention to falsely declare the value of his assets.

With the foregoing facts, Suson found sufficient ground to hold Antopina guilty of dishonesty.

“The untruthful statements he made in his 2006 to 2010 SALNs are material matters as it alters the true amount of his assets and were purposely done to hide the increase of his wealth despite the lack of financial capacity to acquire several assets in years 2005, 2006, and 2007. The properties he acquired in the said years are manifestly out of proportion to his salary and allowances received in 2005, 2006, and 2007,” the decision read.

Antopina claimed that his siblings helped him financially in the construction of the house in 2007, that he obtained loans, and that he had savings from his business before entering the government, but no proof was shown to substantiate his claim.