SC upholds dismissal of ex-North Cotabato solon over pork barrel use

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THE Supreme Court has upheld the dismissal from government service of North Cotabato 2nd District Rep. Gregorio Ipong over the anomalous use of his pork barrel in 2007 amounting to P5 million.

In a 13-page resolution promulgated on April 24, 2023 but only made public last March 14, the SC’s Second Division affirmed with modification the decision issued in 2019 by the Court of Appeals which found Ipong administratively liable for grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.

The resolution said Ipong is liable only for grave misconduct.

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“Here, since the acts complained of relate to Ipong’s official functions and duties as a member of the House of Representatives, i.e., PDAF or Priority Development Assistance Fund PDAF-related functions, and that the same are tainted with the elements of corruption and/or flagrant disregard of an established rule, the Court finds him administratively liable for grave misconduct only,” part of the SC ruling said.

Under the 1999 Uniform Rules on Administrative Cases in the Civil Service, which is the applicable civil service rules at the time Ipong committed the acts complained of in 2007, grave misconduct is a grave offense punishable with dismissal from the service, plus the accessory penalties of cancellation of eligibility, forfeiture of retirement benefits, disqualification from reinstatement or reemployment, disqualification from promotion, and bar from taking the civil service examination, even in the first offense.

The SC said in the event that Ipong’s penalty for dismissal can no longer be enforced due to his separation from government service, the penalty “shall be converted into a fine, equivalent to petitioner’s salary for one year, payable to the Office of the Ombudsman, and may be deductible from petitioner’s accrued leave credits or any receivables from their office.”

According to the investigation conducted by the Office of the Ombudsman, the Department of Budget Management released P5 million from Ipong’s pork barrel to finance his livelihood projects in his congressional district.

It said that Ipong endorsed to the Technology and Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC), the implementing agency of his pork barrel projects, the Aaron Foundation as a partner for his projects.

The amount was then transferred to the Aaron Foundation on the sole basis of Ipong’s endorsement without the TLRC conducting public bidding and despite the absence of an appropriation law or ordinance authorizing the foundation as the implementing agency.

The Ombudsman’s investigation, however, revealed that Aaron Foundation is a bogus non-government foundation and that the municipalities of Kidapawan and Makilala in North Cotabato did not receive any livelihood programs purportedly funded by Ipong’s 2007 pork barrel funds.

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