Ombudsman sacks LTO Guimaras chief
'Stunning confirmation' of graft and corruption, probers ruled
Government's anti-graft body ruled anew to get rid of yet another top government official this time coming from the Land Transportation Office (LTO).
Found to have erred as administratively charged, dismissed from service with forfeiture of benefits is LTO chief in the Province of Guimaras Preciosa I. Lagrimas.
The penalty did not stop there. Lagrimas has now been further disqualified to hold public office alongside criminal charges expected to be pursued by the Sandiganbayan.
The Decision was penned by Graft Investigation and Prosecution Officer I Mona Chica Cabanes – Gillamac of the Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas. Corresponding review was done by Ombudsman Director Edgardo Canton and approval by Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Virginia Palanca-Santiago and Tanodbayan Ma. Merceditas Gutierrez.
Lagrimas' legal woes stemmed from the complaint lodged by insurance agents in said island-province. The charges were summed up in a complaint for oppression, dishonesty and conduct unbecoming of a public servant.
Charges that were not alien to Lagrimas with similar complaint then lodged in her previous stint as LTO chief in the Municipality of Barotac Viejo, Iloilo.
Lagrimas, the Ombudsman validated, was involved in irregular practice with “fixers” in place in LTO Guimaras operations. The modus operandi, the Decision cited, established a system that favored one insurance company where Lagrimas supposedly got a 40% commission. There was also the practice of “free gas” from three Guimaras businessmen with the Ombudsman told of the “LTO Solicitation” gas record.
To worsen Lagrimas' fate, former allies turned on her and squealed to the Ombudsman.
“...we find the witnesses' narration of events as laden with factual information which can only proceed from the mouths of persons who actually witnessed the incident. For truly, the testimonies of these witnesses are, based on our careful assessment of the circumstances of this case, credible and worthy of belief as to overturn the foregoing presumptions,” excerpts of the Decision went while adding how there was “stunning confirmation” as gathered from the testimonies of the witnesses.
The favored insurance company apparently “conquered” insurance business in Guimaras, the Ombudsman also uncovered.
“This Office also notes that this particular allegation is not new as this was one of respondent's misdemeanors mentioned in the Petition of the Northern Iloilo Federation Transportation Owners/Drivers Association which opposed respondent's appeal for her recall to her previous station,” the Decision continued. “These words coming as they are from the horse's mouth is a credible testimony of respondent's act of receiving commission from the insurance companies in the exercise of her official duties.”
The 25-paged Ombudsman Decision was received late Tuesday afternoon by the Office of the Ombudsman here in Iloilo City. It is expected to be served today.