SC reduces penalty of PCG official
THE SUPREME COURT (SC) overturned the dismissal of a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) official, reducing his penalty to a one-month and one-day suspension, and ruling his involvement in procuring supplies for Typhoon Yolanda relief operations as free of dishonesty.
The SC Second Division said the PCG official, who headed the coast guard’s Special Service Office at the time, was guilty of simple misconduct for bypassing the public bidding process in the procurement without approval from the PCG head.
“He is guilty, not of grave misconduct, but of simple misconduct only, as he failed to comply with the requirements of Republic Act No. 9184,” Justice Antonio T. Kho, Jr. wrote in an 11-page decision.
The Ombudsman in 2017 initially found him guilty of serious dishonesty, grave misconduct, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service and ordered his dismissal from office.
The case concerned his disbursement of P500,000 for procuring office supplies and information technology equipment through alleged unjustified public bidding. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana