THE Supreme Court (SC) has reversed a decision of the Office of the Ombudsman dismissing a police officer from service due to his involvement in the allegedly anomalous emergency purchase of rubber boats in 2009 and downgraded the penalty to just a one year suspension, citing lack of previous derogatory records and his length of service.
In a 26-page decision promulgated on October 23, 2024 but only made public recently, the SC Second Division, through Associate Justice Mario Lopez, affirmed the administrative liability of Police Supt. Job Marasigan for grave misconduct for accepting the delivery of defective rubber boats without inspection, but held that there are mitigating circumstances to downgrade the penalty of dismissal earlier handed down by the Ombudsman.
“PSupt. Marasigan has rendered more than 30 years of service to the government, starting in 1979 as a cadet at the Philippine Military Academy. PSupt. Marasigan also has no previous derogatory record, criminal or administrative. Thus, the Court imposes the penalty of one-year suspension without pay,” the SC said in its ruling.
The High Court also found the PNP Logistics Support Service’s Inspection and Acceptance Committee, headed by Marasigan, administratively liable, noting that it has no authority to inspect and accept the rubber boats.
It said that despite his office’s lack of authority, Marasigan still signed the certification that the rubber boats conformed to the PNP’s specifications.
The SC did not give credence to Marasigan’s arguments of good faith, saying that while heads of offices have to rely to a reasonable extent on the good faith of those who prepare documents, this rule is not absolute.
“Public officials should examine the documents in detail when exceptional or additional circumstances prod them to exercise a higher degree of circumspection and go beyond what their subordinates had prepared or recommended,” it said.
The SC reminded public officials that “misconduct has been and should always remain anathema in public service.”
“When public officers or employees are disciplined, the object sought is not punishment but the improvement of public service and the preservation of the public’s faith and confidence in the government. The high constitutional standard of conduct that public office is a public trust must at all times be upheld,” it stressed.
In the same decision, the SC affirmed the Ombudsman’s ruling clearing Marasigan’s co-accused in the case, namely, Sr. Supt. Cornelio Salinas, Supt. Nepomuceno Corpus, Jr., and Sr. Supt. Michael Amos Filart.
The Court said the extreme weather conditions at that time the emergency procurement was made, with several typhoons hitting the country, justified the resort to negotiated purchase instead of going through public bidding.
Associate Justices Amy Lazaro-Javier, Jhosep Lopez and Antonio Kho Jr.and Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen concurred with the ruling.
