Ex-BOC clerk gets 40-year jail term for malversation

CEBU CITY—A former clerk of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in Lapu-Lapu City will spend the next 40 years in prison for pocketing a total of P1.2 million in government funds two decades ago.

The Regional Trial Court in Lapu-Lapu City found Crispiniano Ligan, special collection officer assigned at the Mactan Export Processing Zone, guilty of malversation of public funds for misappropriating P980,125 in customs duties and taxes.

He was also found guilty of falsifying at least 21 official receipts to gain P197,564, and for giving unwarranted benefits to Philippine Izumi Corp. by reducing its customs duties and taxes by P29,593.

Aside from meting him a jail term of more than 40 years in all three cases, Judge Toribio Quiwag of the Regional Trial Court Branch 27 in Lapu-Lapu City also ordered Ligan to pay the government P1,219,052.99, the amount he malversed.

Ligan was out on bail and had not been attending court hearings.

Under the law, Ombudsman investigator and spokesperson Maria Corazon Naraja said the jail term that could be imposed against any convicted person should not exceed 40 years.

“If the penalties are to be served successively, the maximum duration should not exceed threefold the length of most severe penalty but in no case shall it exceed 40 years,” Naraja said in an interview.

In his decision, Judge Quiwag said Ligan’s failure to account for the missing funds under his care was enough evidence that he misappropriated the amount for personal use.

“The accused may adduce evidence to destroy the presumption. Unfortunately, he failed to do so. The accused did not present his evidence in all of these cases,” he said.

The Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas filed 23 cases in court against Ligan.

All cases were jointly tried since the incidents all happened in 1995 and the same prosecution witnesses were presented against him.

Ligan appeared in court during his arraignment and entered a “not guilty” plea. When trial ensued, he no longer appeared in court.

The Commission on Audit, in an examination on the revenue collections of the accused from January to December 1995, found out that Ligan deliberately falsified the official receipts presented to the BOC to show a smaller amount than what was actually collected.

He was also found to have violated Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act when he favored Philippine Izumi Corp. by under-assessing its goods, thereby reducing its payment on custom duties and taxes due the government.