BAGUIO CITY – The 1st Division of the Supreme Court (SC) denied the motion for reconsideration of an official of the Commission on Audit (COA) that sought to modify its earlier ruling upholding the decision of the office of the Ombudsman suspending her for three months without pay for her alleged failure to file her Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) for lack of merit.
In a resolution handed down early this year, the High Court found out that the petitioner did not present any substantial argument to warrant a modification of its earlier ruling on the matter, thus the motion for reconsideration filed by COA-CAR Director II Edna T. Tomelden was denied with finality.
The SC resolution pointed out that no further pleadings or motions shall be entertained by the tribunal relative to the said case.
On October 9, 2017, the SC dismissed Tomelden’s petition for review on certiorari the decision of the Ombudsman to suspend her for three months after she allegedly failed to submit her SALNs for three years in violation of existing law, rules and regulations governing the same.
However, the embattled COA-CAR official filed a motion for reconsideration before the high tribunal that sought to modify the earlier decision upholding her suspension for her to instead pay the corresponding fine equivalent to the prescribed suspension.
Ironically, the SC stood firm on its earlier decision to impose the penalty of suspension against her by denying her motion for reconsideration seeking modification of the earlier ruling in her case.
The SC also ordered that an entry of judgement be made on the said case after the lapse of the prescribed reglamentary period.
Earlier, the Ombudsman found the COA official guilty of having failed to submit her SALNs for three years and ordered her suspended for three months without pay.
Under the provisions of Republic Act (RA) 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards of Public Officials and Employees and Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, every official and employee of the government is required to submit his or her annual Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) to the Office of the Ombudsman which shall keep records relative thereto.
The case against Tomleden was filed by Salvador Liked, who is the Secretary-General of the Cordillera chapter of the Citizens Crime Watch (CCW-CAR), an anticrime and corruption watchdog in the region.
Liked was able to secure a certification from the records officer of the Ombudsman that Tomelden allegedly failed to submit her SALNs for three years wherein the penalty imposed for every violation was one month for every SALN that was not actually submitted pursuant to the certification made by the records officer of the Ombudsman.
Liked said that the latest decision of the SC in the case of Tomelden should serve as a clear warning to government officials and employees who continue to defy the submission of their SALNs because the log arms of the law will surely catch up on them in the future.
By HENT
