In the first place, how in heaven’s name does a Bureau of Customs (BOC) messenger get his hands on a Porsche? But…wait…we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
“The Office of the Ombudsman has found former Bureau of Customs (BOC) messenger Paulino Elevado IV guilty of ‘serious dishonesty,’ slapping him with a fine of PHP20,000, forfeiture of all his retirement benefits and barring him employment in any government office,” reports GMA News Online.
The Department of Finance’s anti-corruption arm, the Revenue Integrity Protection Service (RIPS), said that the Office of the Ombudsman found Elevado guilty of serious dishonesty for five counts of Falsification of Public Documents and two counts of violation of Section 7 of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for his false declarations in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN).
RIP had pointed out that Elevado omitted in his SALN his so-called “other businesses” from the time he entered public service in 1992 to 2008. The Office of the Ombudsman explained in its decision: “It was only in 2008, or sixteen years after assuming office, that the respondent acknowledged that he was engaged in ‘Buy & Sell of Cars & General Merchandise, Various Small Businesses’, without identifying these businesses with sufficient particularity.”
Moreover, Elevado had violated the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees when he figured in a shooting incident along South Luzon Expressway back in January 21, 2012. Elevado had been driving a white Porsche when he got into a traffic altercation with a certain Christopher Verceles and another individual near the Magallanes Flyover in Makati City. CCTV footage showed that Elevado punched Verceles in the face. The brawl led to a car chase and shooting incident that ended in front of Resorts World Hotel.
But, really, is the PHP20,000 fine even going to teach this guy a lesson?
Photo by Clément Bucco-Lechat (WikiCommons), for illustration purposes only
