Palace: No one will be spared in lifestyle checks on officials

President Arroyo vowed yesterday to crack down on suspected grafters in government as she warned that "no one" will be spared in the lifestyle checks.

"Let us have an ethic of simple living in government," she said in a statement. "If one’s family can’t stand a life of relative sacrifice and frugality, he or she must leave the service."

Mrs. Arroyo said the majority of civil servants were "shamed" by the lifestyles of corrupt employees in government.

"Lifestyle checks, backed up by due process, are a good deterrent to corruption," she said. "This administration believes that honest service must go hand-in-hand with a dignified lifestyle."

Last Tuesday, Mrs. Arroyo ordered graft and corruption charges filed against Public Works and Highways Undersecretary Salvador Pleyto before the Office of the Ombudsman, along with Romeo Panganiban, DPWH regional director for Mimaropa (Mindoro-Marinduque-Romblon-Palawan); Gil Valera, deputy Customs commissioner; Jaime Maglipon, Customs deputy collector at Clark Special Economic Zone, and Flor Aguilar, chief of the Customs Miscellaneous Division.

Pleyto’s wife, Miguela and sons, Russel and Salvador Jr., were also charged, as well as Panganiban’s wife, Fe and his daughter, Geraldine.

However, Valera said the Transparency Group conducting the lifestyle check on presidential appointees erred in the evaluation of his case.

"I was able to help government collect 100 percent the P137 million from Steel Asia," he said in a hand-written statement to The STAR. "I should be congratulated and not persecuted."

But Director Eduardo Matillano, chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, said Valera was found "liable" for allegedly entering into a compromise agreement with Steel Asia Manufacturing Corp. without proper authority from the Customs commissioner. — Marichu Villanueva, AFP