Ex-deputy Ombudsman sentenced to 4 months

MANILA, Philippines–This one’s for the books.

A former deputy Ombudsman was convicted of perjury and sentenced to four months in prison for failing to declare in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) his three-story residence worth P4 million.

The Sandiganbayan antigraft court’s Second Division meted out the penalty on Margarito Gervacio Jr., who served as overall deputy Ombudsman from 1999 to 2006, after he pleaded guilty and admitted during arraignment that he did not include in his 2003 SALN his three-story house in Mintal, Davao City.

“It appears that the guilty plea was entered into deliberately and with full knowledge of its effects,” the court said in its Dec. 2 ruling, a copy of which was made available to the media on Monday.

“With the application of the mitigating circumstance of a plea of guilty, the court hereby finds the accused guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of perjury,” it said.

The decision was penned by Associate Justice Teresita Diaz-Baldos, the division chair, and was concurred in by Associate Justices Napoleon Inoturan and Maria Cristina Cornejo.

Seeks probation

Gervacio was granted provisional liberty after his lawyer, Eusebio Avila, told the court that his client would be seeking probation for his sentence.

The case against Gervacio stemmed from a complaint for violation of Republic Act No. 6713, or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, filed by Antonio Baltazar on Dec. 15, 2005.

In his complaint, Baltazar said Gervacio owned a multilevel home and two four-story buildings in Davao City, which he failed to declare in his SALN.

Gervacio admitted to owning the house, but denied that the two commercial buildings belong to him.

Ombudsman investigators said Gervacio could not explain why the house, which was constructed in 1999, was not reflected in his SALN for 2003.

“Suffice it to state that [Gervacio’s] failure to indicate the residential house as one of his real properties in his SALN … warrants his indictment with the crime of perjury,” the Ombudsman said.

“The respondent wilfully and deliberately alleged false statements concerning his assets in his SALN for the year 2003,” it said.