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PRESIDENTIAL ANTI-GRAFT COMMISSION (PAGC)

PRESS RELEASE

09 January 2008 

DSWD ASSISTANT SECRETARY AND BLGF REGIONAL DIRECTOR SUSPENDED BY OP 

As the New Year begins, the government’s anti-graft drive continues to gain momentum as Malacañang ordered the suspension of two top-ranking officials upon the recommendation of its graft-busting arm, the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC).  

In a Decision dated December 14, 2007, the Palace found Assistant Secretary RUEL G. LUCENTALES of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) guilty of Simple Neglect of Duty, thus, slapping him with a six-month suspension for repeatedly failing to declare his business interest as a major stockholder in a Davao City vocational school in his 2001 to 2005 Statements of Assets Liabilities and Net worth (SALNs).  

All government officials and employees are required to disclose their business interests and financial connections in their annual SALN. Such duty is mandated by Section 7 of Republic Act 3019, also known as the Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and Section 8 of RA 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.  

            Lucentales and his wife, Cecilia, own fifty percent (50%) of the total shares in the Richter School of Iridology and Therapeutics, Inc., an alternative medicine and reflexology school in Davao City, but, as the records show, did not declare this in their 2001 to 2005 SALNs. 

Meanwhile, OSCAR MICLA, a Regional Director of the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF), was likewise ordered to be suspended by Malacañang for one (1) month and one (1) day for his failure to address the problem of the Municipality of Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija, where the OIC-Municipal Treasurer refused to vacate the said position in spite of a Cease and Desist Order against her.   

In its December 14, 2007 Decision, the Office of the President affirmed PAGC’s recommendation to suspend Micla for remaining passive for four (4) months despite the public confusion and bureaucratic disorder caused by having two (2) Municipal Treasurers fighting over the said position.  

Micla was found guilty of Simple Neglect of Duty for not meeting the standard of conduct for government officials set by RA 6713, specifically for failing to observe commitment to the public interest and professionalism in the execution of his official duties as BLGF Regional Director. #

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