Arroyo upholds prosecutor’s dismissal

A woman prosecutor of the Department of Justice was dismissed from the government yesterday after the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) discovered that she concealed and under-declared many of her real estate properties.

The Office of the President, in a resolution signed by senior Deputy Executive Secretary Waldo Flores, upheld the February 2004 recommendation of PAGC Chairman Dario Rama to fire Assistant City Prosecutor Evelyn Brul-Cruz for graft and violation of the Code of Conduct for Officials.

"After an exhaustive review of the records of the case, this office concurs with the findings and conclusion of the PAGC," a portion of the 11-page resolution read.

Malacañang held "presidential appointee" Cruz administratively liable for withholding the number of real properties she owned and misdeclaring their value by not including them in the statements of assets and liabilities (SALs) she filed in 1999, 2000 and 2002.

While she branded as "absurd and malicious" the complaint against her by her stepchildren Emiliani Wilfredo Cruz and Carlos Cruz Jr., the prosecutor admitted that some of the real properties in question were owned by her late husband.

Cruz claimed that she failed to declare a 2,197 square meter lot on N. Domingo street in Cubao, Quezon City worth P4.3 million and a 700-square meter lot along E. Rodriguez Avenue worth P3.7 million because they belonged to her husband, who shared ownership of the properties with two other couples.

Cruz also claimed that she did not declare some of her assets because she deemed them too insignificant.

She claimed to own a "minimal amount" of shares in Tagaytay Highlands Country Club "which she did not find necessary to include anymore in her SALs."

The OP also did not buy into Cruz’s claim that she "never derived" any income from her "sari-sari store, computer shop, restaurant and billiard hall" in Meycauayan, Bulacan because the proceeds from their operation go directly to her youngest sister, Grace Purugganan, whom she is helping out.

"Who derives income is immaterial. What is material is whether or not she owns the said properties. If she does, it necessarily follows that these should be reflected in her SALs," Flores said.

Flores said that Cruz’s omissions amounted to a violation of "two special laws" RA 3019 on graft and RA 6713 on the code of conduct.

He added that the evidence against Cruz was "substantial" since she did not "specifically deny" ownership of the properties attributed to her.

The complainants told the PAGC that Cruz withheld information about her Cubao and E. Rodriguez properties, a P2-million building on Maningning street, Teachers’ Village in Quezon City, a condo unit, her businesses in Bulacan, and the country club shares.

Among the "under-declared" real estate properties were a 283-square meter lot in Yale street in Cubao worth P17 million, a 300-square meter lot on nearby 8th Avenue worth P5.9 million, and P376,390 worth of shares in the Green Valley Country Club in Baguio City.