Padaca indicted for perjury over SALN

Former Election Commissioner Grace Padaca. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

FORMER election commissioner Grace Padaca, a staunch ally of President Aquino, has been indicted for perjury in the Sandiganbayan for her alleged failure to file her statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) from 2007 to 2010.

In four separate complaints, the Office of the Ombudsman said Padaca did not submit her SALN as mandated by law when she was still the governor of Isabela province.

It said the ex-official of the Commission on Elections violated Section 11 of Republic Act No. 6713, or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, which requires government employees to file their SALN.

The antigraft body said Padaca “willfully, unlawfully and criminally” failed to submit her SALN for four years “in utter disregard of her official obligation.”

Padaca, a member of the ruling Liberal Party, had also been charged by the Ombudsman of graft and malversation when she awarded a service contract to a nongovernment organization without a public bidding when she was still governor.

A polio-stricken community broadcaster, she rose to national prominence in 2004 when she won the gubernatorial race in Isabela, ending the reign of the powerful Dy clan in the province.

Padaca won the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for government service, the Asia’s equivalent of the Nobel Peace Prize, in 2008.

She was appointed by Mr. Aquino as Comelec commissioner in 2012, but was forced to step down two years later when she repeatedly failed to get the nod of the Commission on Appointments.

In approving her indictment for perjury, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales said it was “difficult to fathom how (Padaca) would be unfamiliar with such a practice or that she has not altogether adopted this procedure given her lengthy stint in government service.”

The Ombudsman recommended a bail of P10,000 for each count of perjury against Padaca.