CA upholds dismissal of airport customs officer

The Court of Appeals (CA) has upheld the dismissal from service of a special collection officer of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) custom house for failing to remit P53.2 million in collections from 2000 to 2002. In a 10-page decision penned by Associate Justice Renato Dacudao, the CA’s special ninth division junked the petition of the accused Ernesto Fajardo seeking to overturn the May 3, 2005 ruling of the Ombudsman dismissing Fajardo from the service for dishonesty and grave misconduct “In the case at bar, we find that there is a substantial evidence to support a finding that the respondent is guilty of dishonesty and grave misconduct" the CA said. Investigation conducted by the NBI and the Commission on Audit (COA) revealed that Fajardo has a total unremitted collection amounting to P20.1 million from sales of accountable forms with money value and stamps for the period Jan. 2002 to Oct. 2002. The NBI and COA’s investigation also revealed that for 2000 and 2001 and the months of Jan. to Oct. 2002, Fajardo’s unremitted collection amounted to P53.2 million. Court records showed that former Customs Commissioner Antonio Bernardo requested the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Jan. 6, 2003 to investigate the misappropriation of public funds allegedly committed by Fajardo. District Collector Celso Templo repeatedly demanded from Fajardo to remit the collections but he failed to do so. In his petition for review, Fajardo said the Ombudsman committed grave abuse of discretion in finding him guilty of the charges because it was speculative and contrary to evidence. In upholding the ruling of the Ombudsman, the CA said the government officials are presumed to perform their functions with regularity. The CA also declared as self-serving and uncoborrated the Fajardo’s contention that the COA committed an error to assume that every accountable form sold would always result to the sale of the corresponding documentary stamps. The CA cited that Fajardo failed to present witnesses to substantiate his defense.-GMANews.TV