Appeals court affirms dismissal of 4 finance employees

The Court of Appeals building in Ermita, Manila. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/COURT OF APPEALS WEBSITE

MANILA, Philippines—The Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of the Office of the Ombudsman ordering the dismissal of four employees of the Department of Finance after they were found guilty of grave misconduct for issuing tax credit certificates worth P250.98 million to fictitious textile firm.

In a 30-page decision made public Wednesday, the appeals court 10th division through Associate Justice Fernanda Lampas Peralta dismissed the petitions of Mark Binsol, Sylvialina Daguimol, Marife Cabadin and Emelita Tizon who sought to reverse the Ombudsman’s 2007 decision.

The four were employees at the One-Stop-Shop Inter-Agency Tax Credit and Duty Drawback Center (OSS-Center) who evaluated the approved application for tax credit certificates of Victory Textile Mills Inc. (VTMI), which turned out to be fictitious.

The appeals court said petitioners failed to controvert that they were the ones who evaluated and approved the release of the 99 TCCs amounting to P250,982,318 for VTMI.

It also dismissed the argument of the petitioners that they were just performing their duties when they approved VTM’s claims for TCC.

The appeals court said based on the investigation of respondent Special Presidential Task Force 156, from the third quarter of 1995 to first quarter of 1999, VTMI was able to secure from the OSS-Center 99 TCCs. But VTMI had no physical and legal existence and its officials were fictitious.

“The fact that petitioners’ evaluations were reviewed by their ‘superiors’ does not mitigate their liabilities. Petitioners are the first legal evaluators of the tax credit applications/claims of Victory Textile Mills, Inc.,” the appeals court said.

“The foregoing are more than adequate to convince a reasonable mind that the technical staff of OSS, including herein petitioners, deliberately or through gross inexcusable negligence, had given Victory Textile Milles, Inc. undue benefits to the detriment of the government,” it added.

Concurring with the ruling were Associate Justices Francisco Acosta and Angelita Gacutan.