A COLLECTOR of the Bureau of Customs in Subic Bay Freeport Zone has been held liable by the Commission on Audit for the loss of his collections totaling P910,000 on the ground of negligence.
In a decision released last March 14, the COA Commission Proper denied the request filed by BOC collector Jose Bernas asking for relief from money accountability.
Records showed the theft took place way back on October 2, 1992 but Bernas filed his request for relief only on July 27, 2017 or nearly 25 years after the fact.
He claimed he kept his collections overnight, stowing it at the top drawer of a steel cabinet but found the money gone when he checked the following day.
After discovering the money gone, he reported the loss to the police and the auditor of the BOC.
Investigators noted the absence of any sign of forcible entry, no indication of any rummaging inside the cashier’s office and the contents of the steel cabinet, and the door lock was intact without any sign of damage.
When the incident happened, police found there were seven people who slept at the quarters at the back of the BOC Building and another person inside the customs office.
Solely based on the long delay in filing by the collector, the COA said the request for relief deserves scant consideration.
However, even on merits, the COA said the mark of negligence in the actions of Bernas makes him liable.
“Mr. Bernas failed to exercise the required diligence under the circumstances. The tax collections were stored in a steel cabinet instead of a vault or safe. This Commission thus finds negligence on the part of Mr. Bernas and his request for relief from money accountability cannot be given due course,” the commission declared.
It noted that the BOC officer had the option of depositing the sum in BOC’s account at the Land Bank of the Philippines but her did not do so.
“Considering the large amount of money in his custody on that particular date, …and the lack of a safe or vault in the cashier’s office, it was more prudent for him to deposit his collections with the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) on the same day instead of waiting for the following day’s pick-up,” it added.
