Ombuds clears LTO officer, Rama couple

CEBU, Philippines - Citing lack of evidence, the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas has cleared a former Cebu vice governor and his wife and an officer of the Land Transportation Office of conspiracy in registering a vehicle with fake engine and chassis numbers.

In her nine-page joint resolution, graft investigator Luanne Ivy Cabatingan dismissed the graft charges filed against LTO-Mandaue City supervising transportation regulation officer Armando Avila and former Cebu vice governor Enrique Rama and wife Rosario Antoinette for failure to establish conspiracy between them.

Personnel of the Highway Patrol Group-7 further filed a complaint for grave misconduct against Avila, which Cabatingan also dismissed.

Cabatingan did not find probable cause to indict Avila for the graft charges and further found no substantial evidence to hold him administratively liable for grave misconduct.

“There is no evidence to establish that respondent Avila acted with any manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence in affixing his signature on the Certificate of Registration,” the decision read.

The case stemmed from the complaints filed by Joselito Lerion, Romeo Guirigay, Michael Infornon, Edwardson Masangue, and Lawrence Gagarin who are members of the special operation team of the HPG-7 over an incident on August 20, 2013.

They alleged that on the said date, they flagged down a beige Toyota Fortuner with plate number YEL 113, which was owned and being driven by Enrique, for initial violation of Seat Belts Use Act of 1999.

In the complaint, the policemen said Enrique presented an expired driver’s license and failed to present a certificate of registration from LTO.

Enriquez’ vehicle was then temporarily impounded for further investigation.

Based on the physical and macro-etching examination by the Regional Crime Laboratory Office, the vehicle’s engine and chassis numbers were tampered.

The HPG in Manila issued a verification which showed that Enriquez’s vehicle, with the restored chassis number, was included on the list of hold order vehicles.

The Bureau of Customs also denied issuing a certificate of payment to Tiger Motor Sales Corp., where the Rama couple reportedly bought the vehicle.

Further, the Bureau of Internal Revenue also said that the motor vehicle tax clearance issued to the couple did not exist in its files.

The BIR also noted that the document was reportedly fake since it contained some discrepancies.

It was further found out that the vehicle was registered under Rosario’s name on April 4, 2007 at the LTO-Mandaue City District Office through importation procedure. Avila reportedly signed the certificate of registration.

The complainants said that LTO-Mandaue City District Office is not authorized to register imported motor vehicles, thus suing Avila for allowing the registration of the vehicle despite the tampered engine and chassis numbers and for misrepre-sentation of documents for the original LTO registration.

They also filed charges against the couple for “knowingly inducing or causing respondent Avila to commit a violation of Sections 3 and 4 of the Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.”

In his counter-affidavit, Avila denied the charges and said he was merely performing his ministerial function in registering the vehicle after the submission of all the required documents.

Avila asserted he is not required by law to validate the authenticity of the documents which were already assessed by the evaluator.

He further argued that he acted in good faith and that he did not personally know the registered owner of the said vehicle.

The Rama couple, on the other hand, did not answer the allegations against them.

 Cabatingan, in her resolution, acknowledged the role of Avila in signing the certificate of registration as the last step in the process.

The complainants, she added, failed to present evidence that would show any patent defects on the documents that would have alerted Avila to do some irregularity.

She added that the policemen did not present any evidence that the motor vehicle inspection report and the PNP motor vehicle clearance certificate were fake.

“Wherefore, the complaint is dismissed, without prejudice to the filing of the proper complaint before the Office of the City Prosecutor of Cebu City against private respondents Enrique Ponce Rama and Rosario Antoinette R. Rama for any other offense(s),” her resolution read. — (FREEMAN)