PAMPANGA -- Governor Eddie Panlilio and Provincial Administrator Vivian Dabu are facing charges for violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act before the Deputy Ombudsman's office for Luzon.

Panlilio and Dabu are said to be showing abuse of authority, oppression, and grave misconduct and are violating section 3e of Republic Act (RA) 3019 otherwise known as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

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Section 3e of the act mandates as unlawful public officials "causing any undue injury to any party, including the government, or giving any private party, unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference in the discharge of his official administrative or judicial functions through manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence, which applies to officers and employees of offices or government corporations charged with the grants of licenses or permits or other concessions."

Jannette Tricia Pineda, a regular employee of the Capitol and a member of the Technical Working Group of the Bids and Awards Committee lodged the charges before the Ombudsman on Monday.

She said Panlilio and Dabu, together with provincial council Cecilia Arce and acting Human Resources Management Office head Rommel Pineda, committed "unjust dismissal without due process and a biased decision from an unfair investigation."

Pineda has been with the Capitol for 12 years, working with various departments, before being assigned as Administrative Officer III in Dabu's office.

In an interview with her at Sun.Star Pampanga office on Tuesday, she said she received a formal charge issued and signed by Panlilio on August 19 on her alleged serious dishonesty and falsification of public documents.

The documents referred to canvass documents for procurement that had reportedly been tampered and altered by Pineda.

Denying the claims, Pineda narrated that an investigating committee led by Dabu, Arce and one Kathleen Sigua did not take into consideration her formal reply to the charges and said the investigation and six hearings were biased from the start.

"They subjected me po to the investigation without my lawyer at hindi ako binigyan ng copy mg preliminary report or maski iyung subpoena sa witnesses. Ang nakakapagtaka nga po ay pirmado na nila (Dabu and Panlilio) iyung mga canvass sheets. Pero pinipilit pa rin nila na handwriting ko iyon kahit hindi," Pineda said.

She added that she sought the advice of Civil Service Commission officials who told her the decision is not final and executory and that she can continue working at her post.

"Pero noon nga pong pumasok ako noong November 4 ay hinarass na ako ni Attorney Dabu at sabi niya ay 'O, bakit ka pa pumapasok? Hindi mo ba alam na dismissed ka na?' (But when I reported back to work on November 4, attorney Dabu harassed me and said 'Why are you here? Were you not told that you're already dismissed?)," she said.

"This humiliated me po so much at tagang iyak ako ng iyak. Hindi man nila pinakinggan na mayroon pa akong (I was crying. They didn't consider that I still have) 15 days to file for a motion for reconsideration," she added.

In her complaint affidavit, Pineda is "praying for the preventive suspension of the officials."

But in an interview with Dabu on Wednesday, she said she neither harassed nor scolded Pineda.

"I would not do that. In fact, I saw her in uniform with her ID on November during the Israeli Ambassador's visit. It was just after Luningning Vergara, her current superior, [who] sought my advice that I summoned them into my office to talk. The discussion was cordial and she was never scolded. We just reminded her of her dismissal," Dabu said.

She furthered: "Actually, during the hearings, she admitted to tampering to some five items on the canvass sheets which they are not allowed to do even if she says they have the certification or permission from suppliers. As a member of the TWG, she is vested with the trust and confidence of simply transferring the figures on the Abstract of Canvass."

Dabu said during the hearing, Pineda admitted that she indeed altered the figures.

"I told her mayroon kang karapatan na mag file ng reconsideration. But iyung dismissal effective upon receipt. I also had lawyer Arce verify iyung sa Civil Service at iyung basis for their resolution of 2000. But our basis is a newer resolution issued on February 2007 which says that it is effective upon receipt," she said.

Dabu said they will just answer the allegations of Pineda once they receive their copy of the complaint.

Pampanga Governor Panlilio, meantime, was not reached for comment Wednesday. (Jovi T. De Leon/Sun.Star Pampanga/Sunnex)