Ex-DENR exec convicted of perjury, ethics violation for marriage denial

MANILA — A former director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources was sentenced to imprisonment of one month to one year and slapped with a fine of P5,000 for falsely declaring in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth that he has no wife.

In a decision promulgated on January 12, the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division found former DENR River Basin Control Office executive director Jacob Meimban Jr. guilty of one count each of perjury under Article 183 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) and violation of Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.

The Fourth Division sentenced Meimban to a minimum of one month to a maximum of one year of imprisonment for the perjury case, while he was ordered to pay a fine of P5,000 for his ethics violation case.

Based on the information of the cases filed by the Office of the Ombudsman in February last year, Meimban “unlawfully and feloniously make a willful and deliberate assertion of falsehood” by failing to declare the name of his legal wife in his SALN for 2007.

Instead, Meimban allegedly wrote “N/A” or not applicable in the space provided for the name of his spouse, despite being fully aware that his Petition for Declaration to Nullify Marriage filed in 2004 was still pending in court at that time.

The ombudsman said that with Meimban's deliberate failure to indicate the name of his wife in his SALN, he also got away with the non-disclosure of his wife's financial and business interest.

The name of Meimban's wife was not mentioned in the charge sheet nor in the Fourth Division's ruling.