MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court (SC) junked the charges against a former top official of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) for allegedly failing to disclose his wealth in his sworn Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Net worth (SALN) for 2002.
In the ruling written by Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta, the SC reversed and set aside the Aug. 18, 2009 resolution and Feb. 8, 2010 order of the Sandiganbayan's Second Division denying former regional director of the BIR, Danilo Duncano’s motion to dismiss on the ground of lack of jurisdiction.
The SC’s third division granted the certiorari petition of Duncano, who was charged criminal raps for allegedly violating Section 8, in relation to Section 11 of the Republic Act No. 6713 or failing to submit declarations of his assets, liabilities and net worth, financial and business interests under oath of his SALN for 2002.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) of the Office of the Ombudsman filed the criminal case against Duncano on March 24, 2009.
The OSC claimed that the position of Regional Director will fall within the original and exclusive jurisdiction of the Sandiganbayan. However, the SC said that “there is no merit in the OSP's allegation that the petition was prematurely filed on the ground that respondent court has not yet acquired jurisdiction over the person of petitioner."
According to the SC, although Duncano is a Regional Director of the BIR, his position was classified as Director II with Salary Grade 26 based on the certification issued by the Officer-in-charge-assistant Chief of the Personnel Division of the BIR.
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