Court of Appeals upholds suspension of Bureau of Customs official

The Court of Appeals (CA) has rejected a petition filed by a Bureau of Customs official to prevent the Office of the Ombudsman from suspending her for allegedly failing a lifestyle check.

Justices Japar Dimaampao, Martin Villarama and Edgardo Sundiam of the appellate court’s 15th division upheld the six-month preventive suspension imposed by Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon Victor Fernandez on Alberta Iglesias, 50, who was assigned as the district collector at Poro Point in San Fernando, La Union.

In a four-page resolution penned by Dimaampao, the CA held that it could not be persuaded by Iglesia’s defense that implementing the sanction will result in her "loss of reputation and denial of the sacrosanct presumption of innocence."

"Preventive suspension is not a punishment or penalty for the acts of dishonesty or misconduct in office but only a preventive measure. It is merely a preliminary step in an administrative investigation," Dimaampao wrote.

He added that the preventive suspension "does not establish the guilt or innocence of a respondent in an administrative proceeding. There is therefore nothing improper in suspending an officer pending his investigation."

Previous newspaper reports branded Iglesias as having the most wealth compared to five of her colleagues who also failed the lifestyle check and are now facing charges before the Ombudsman.

Iglesias’ father is Alberto de Joya, who served as Customs commissioner and defense secretary during the term of the late President Diosdado Macapagal, President Arroyo’s father.

The Ombudsman is currently investigating Iglesias after she failed to submit her statement of assets and liabilities before 2000, even if her employment at the Customs bureau started in 1990. Government employees are required to submit their SALs every year.

Investigators are also trying to determine how she acquired two residential lots in Novaliches, Quezon City, two more in Baguio City, and five luxury vehicles, all of which amounted to P15.2 million.

Department of Finance (DOF) officials privy to the initial investigation said it was surprising to find Iglesias managed to acquire these properties since she earned only about P24,000 a month.

Iglesias has denied the charges, including allegations she used her family’s close ties with the Arroyos to get a government post.

"This is unfair. I’m not even extravagant," she said. "These DOF people have been harassing me. All my assets are inherited and my position is not lucrative. There’s hardly any vessel docking in the port I oversee, unlike those in Manila and Subic."