2 DECS execs suspended over luxury vehicles

Ombudsman Aniano Desierto placed two undersecretaries of the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS) under preventive suspension for six months without pay over the agency’s alleged unlawful purchase of luxury vehicles.

Undersecretaries Antonio Valdez and Bartolome Carale were slapped with the administrative sanction upon the recommendation of Mary Susan Guillermo, head of the Ombudsman’s Administrative Adjudication Bureau.

In a two-page order, Desierto directed Gonzalez to "immediately implement" the directive upon receipt.

The Ombudsman began an investigation last September into the administrative aspect of the alleged irregular purchase of luxury vehicles by the DECS using a P12-million donation from the Land Bank of the Philippines supposedly intended for the procurement of computers.

Desierto said his office has yet to determine whether the criminal aspect of the case needs to be pursued. — Delon Porcalla