The Office of the Ombudsman ordered the filing of forfeiture proceedings against a former Pasay City treasurer and concurrent OIC-Regional Director of the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF), Region VII, and her children.
In a recent joint resolution, the Ombudsman found prima facie evidence to charge public respondent Concepcion C. Daplas (Mrs. Daplas) and her children Dominador C. Daplas (Mr. Daplas) and Marie Anne C. Daplas for violation of Section 2 of Republic Act No. 1379. Consequently, the Anti-Graft Body ordered the filing of the corresponding petition for forfeiture of ill-gotten wealth before the Sandiganbayan.
Section 2 of RA 1379 presumes prima facie that a public officer has acquired unlawfully a property if at the time of the acquisition of the said property the public officer’s salary and his other lawful incomes are manifestly out of proportion to the property’s price.
It may be recalled that in its complaint the Department of Finance Revenue Integrity Protection Service (DOF RIPS) questioned the shareholdings of the Daplas couple and their children in KEI Realty and Development Corporation. The DOF RIPS alleged that Mrs. Daplasowned 15,000 shares of stocks, valued at 1.5 million pesos, and her late husband, 70,000 shares of stocks, valued at 7 million pesos. At the time of incorporation, the former paid P800,000.00 and the latter, one million of the subscribed capitalization. However, Mrs. Daplas did not report the said shares of stocks and participation in the management of the corporation in her 1997 SALN and subsequent SALN thereof.
Subsequently, the Ombudsman sided with the DOF RIPS. It refused to believe respondents’ arguments that the initial capital of KEI Realty was pooled from the financial resources of the Daplas siblings. First, the Ombudsman found that at the time KEI Realty’s incorporation Marie Anne Daplas was only twenty years old, with no proof of financial capability to acquire shares of stocks. Second, the Ombudsman held that Mr. Daplas’ statements, that he and Madeleine D. Saquing were both working, are self-serving because Mr. Daplas did not present any solid evidence to support his claim.
Because respondents failed to convince the Ombudsman of their defense, the Ombudsman held that the total amount of P2.7 million capital infusion of the Daplasfamily to KEI Realty is presumed sourced from Mrs. Daplas, but its ownership concealed in the names of her husband and children as a subterfuge of Mrs. Daplas’ ill-gotten wealth. And if the huge capital infusion is provided by Mrs. Daplas, whose monthly salary at that time was only P27,722.00, the anti-graft Body opined that a prima facieevidence exists that the same had been unlawfully acquired, because it is manifestly out of proportion to her salary as a public officer and to all other sources of her income, pursuant to RA 1379.
In the same resolution, the Ombudsman found probable cause to file information against public respondent Mrs. Daplas before the Sandiganbayan for six counts of violation of Section 8 of Republic Act No. 6713. The Ombudsman held that Mrs. Daplas violated the said provision when she failed to disclose her 1992 Mitsubishi Galant in her 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003 SALNs and when she did not report in her 1997 SALN her business interest in KEI Realty. Mrs. Daplas’ failure to reveal the same business interest in KEI Realty has also prompted the Ombudsman to indict her for one count of perjury as defined and penalized under Article 183 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC).
The Revenue Integrity Protection Service (RIPS) is the anti-corruption arm of the DOF. Under the banner of “Daang Matuwid” of the present Aquino Administration, RIPS investigates allegations of corruption in the DOF and its attached agencies (the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Bureau of Customs, the Bureau of Local Government Finance, Bureau of Treasury, Central Board of Assessment Appeals, the Insurance Commission, the National Tax Research Center, the Fiscal Incentives Review Board, and the Privatization and Management Office). RIPS calls on the public to report through “Pera ng Bayan” website (www.perangbayan.com) public officials and employees under DOF and its attached agencies who engage in graft and corrupt practices.