Assessor gets lighter penalty

CEBU, Philippines - Considering that it was her first offense, a Mandaue City assessor got a lighter penalty from the Court of Appeals.

The CA decision, penned by Associate Justice Marilyn Lagura-Yap, partly granted the petition filed by Aphrodite Maala seeking to nullify the decision of the Office Ombudsman to have her dismissed from the service.

“Wherefore, the petition is partly granted. The assailed decision and order of the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas is affirmed with modification. Petitioner is found guilty of gross neglect of duty, but is penalized with only one year suspension from service without pay,” the decision reads.

The CA said dismissing Maala from the service is too harsh for a first offense. She applied the Supreme Court jurisprudence Hao versus Andres in her decision.

“We deem it proper to impose upon petitioner the penalty of one year suspension from service without pay instead of dismissal, considering that this is her first offense and she has worked for the government for 27 years with an unblemished record,” it ruled.

The Ombudsman found Maala guilty for an administrative case when she issued a tax declaration to two claimants of a single property, a 4,275-square meter parcel of land in Pagsabungan, Mandaue City.

Maala, in her petition, said that she did not know that lot 1252 that was being claimed by the heirs of Manuel Judilla and an unidentified lot being claimed by Gamaliel Judilla refers to the same property.

She said she should not be blamed for initially issuing a tax declaration to the heirs of Manuel for lot 1252 because at the time she issued it, the tax declaration issued to Gamaliel and his predecessors-in-interest did not bear a lot number.

With this, the appellate court found Maala guilty of gross negligence because she issued a new tax declaration to the heirs of Manuel, though the attachments of their request fell short of the requisites enumerated in Chapter 1V, Section 5 (A) of the Manuel of Assessment.

“Petitioner should not have issued TD 01867 based only on the Lot Data and Sketch Plan submitted by the heirs of Manuel Judilla,” the decision reads, adding that the petitioner failed to require the heirs of Manuel to submit an affidavit of ownership, which would somehow show their interest over lot 1252.

The CA added that if the petitioner required the heirs of Manuel to submit the necessary requirements, she could have discovered that the property being claimed by the two were substantially the same. —/NSA (FREEMAN)