At Customs, clerk drives Pajero, messenger has Civic

Two employees of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) — a messenger driving a Honda Civic and a senior clerk driving a Mitsubishi Pajero, among other vehicles — were suspended for six months without pay by the Ombudsman after they flunked the government’s lifestyle check.

Clerk Dolores Domingo and messenger Chito Orbeta were slapped with the preventive suspension following an initial investigation that indicated they acquired assets beyond their lawful income.

The administrative sanction was based on a probe conducted by Ombudsman investigators, who held the two employees accountable for "dishonesty, misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service."

The separate cases of Domingo and Orbeta were first featured in the investigative program "Imbestigador" of GMA-7 hosted by broadcast journalist Mike Enriquez.

Enriquez’s team helped Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo build its case.

Graft probers discovered that Domingo managed to acquire two vehicles costing P366,000 in 1988 when she was just a senior clerk and her annual income was just P29,676.

In 1996, Domingo purchased a house and lot in Biñan, Laguna worth P100,5000 when her annual income was just P63,864. Two years later, she bought a vehicle worth P640,000 when her yearly income was pegged at P83,028.

Ombudsman spokesman Ernesto Nocos also said Domingo and her husband acquired several vehicles — a Starex van, a Pajero, a Toyota Revo and an Elantra sedan — at a total cost of P2.3 million. These vehicles were concealed in Domingo’s declared assets for 2002.

Orbeta, who began work for the BOC in 1992, bought a Honda Civic worth P395,000 in 2003 even if his annual income was just P71,592 - or a monthly salary of P5,966.

In 1998, he bought a Toyota Revo worth P599,000 "in cash" when he received just P58,992 in total wages that year.

In 1993, he was able to purchase real property in Laguna worth P190,080 when his income for that year was only P24,876.