Ombuds dismisses Comelec employee

The Ombudsman-Visayas recently ordered the Commission on Elections regional director to implement the dismissal of a Comelec-North District employee who was earlier found guilty of grave misconduct. The Ombudsman, last January 31, found Comelec employee Maricor Jore Abug guilty of defrauding nine people of money in exchange for jobs at the Comelec, either in Cebu City or somewhere in Cebu province, through her alleged connections at Comelec-Manila.

Each of the nine complainants gave Abug a total of at least P6,500 on several occasions, from May 23, 2003 till June 16, 2003, at various places. Two of them even gave a bottle of imported brandy each to Abug while another paid P7,000 in cash. The Ombudsman granted Abug the chance to refute the allegations. First was on September 17, 2003 when she

was ordered to submit her counter-affidavit, and then on July 29, 2004 when she was directed to submit her position paper on the case.

In both instances, Abug refused to answer and on November 19, 2004, the Ombudsman's notice to her was returned with the annotation "AWOL."

"It is said that 'flight is a sign of guilt' and that is apparently true in this case. Respondent may have been driven to escape by the overwhelming evidence of her wrongdoing, so this case must proceed as a matter of court," the Ombudsman ruled.

Abug was meted with "dismissal from the service with cancellation of civil service eligibility, forfeiture of earned leave credits and retirement benefits, and disqualification from reemployment in the government service." - Liv G. Campo