Philippine Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III has directed Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon to dismiss from service a Bureau of Customs (BOC) official for serious dishonesty and to suspend without pay two more for dishonesty and neglect of duty.
Ordered dismissed was Customs Operations Officer I Khalid Minoao Calandada, who had also been removed from service by the Ombudsman based on charges filed against him last year by the Department of Finance (DOF)-Revenue Integrity Protection Service.
Calandada was found guilty of serious dishonesty for his repeated failure to declare certain properties and misleading declarations in his Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Networth (SALN) from 2008 to 2014.
The Ombudsman said Calandada’s “deliberate assertions of falsehood made under oath” led to the discovery that he had acquired a Mitsubishi Montero Sport, a .45 caliber pistol, and a shotgun, and incurred bank and personal loans of over P6 million—all of which he had failed to declare in his annual SALNs.
Along with dismissal, Calandada was penalized by the Ombudsman with the cancellation of his eligibility, forfeiture of retirement benefits, and perpetual disqualification from public office and from taking the civil service examinations.
Dominguez also directed Faeldon to suspend for two months without pay Special Agent Samuel Gamao Saed and for six months without pay Customs Operations Officer IV Jerry Gomez Ponce, both for committing simple dishonesty and simple neglect of duty.
Aside from customs officials, the finance secretary ordered executive director Nino Raymond Alvina of the Bureau of Local Government Finance to also remove municipal treasurers Ananie Raluto of Zamboanga del Sur and Eddie Rodriguez of Occidental Mindoro from the government ranks for grave misconduct and dishonesty.
Another municipal treasurer, Carlos Bengil of South Cotabato, was ordered suspended for one month for simple neglect of duty.
Since July, Dominguez has taken punitive action against 14 employees under DOF’s supervision for various offenses, ranging from simple neglect of duty to grave misconduct, based on the results of separate investigations by the Ombudsman.
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