THE Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas suspended for one month and a day without pay a social welfare officer from Compostela, Cebu for failing to settle her cash advances amounting to P6,429 on time.
Graft Investigator Marilyn Israel-Torres found Susan Paradiang liable for simple neglect of duty.
“Her failure to fully liquidate her cash advances on time is a clear indication of carelessness and failure to give proper attention to the task expected of her,” read Torres’ seven-page decision.
The Ombudsman’s Field Investigation Office filed administrative charges accusing Paradiang of misconduct and neglect of duty.
Paradiang received the cash advances on various dates from 2001 to 2010 totaling to P6,429.
Replying to the charges, Paradiang said the unsettled advances were only portions of the gross amounts of the cash advances granted to her. She also said that already settled, under protest, the entire amount in December 2016 yet.
In the decision, Torres, said that Paradiang only settled her advances only after she received the ombudsman’s order directing her to submit her counter-affidavit to the charges filed against her.
“While her actuation does not appear willful and deliberate, and without intention to cause damage to the government, her omission nonetheless warrants administrative sanction,” the ombudsman said.
Citing Section 89 of Presidential Decree 1445, or the Government Auditing Code of the Philippines, the ombudsman said that an accountable officer is required to settle advances within 20 days after the end of the year.
The ombudsman also directed the town mayor to implement the suspension order and submit a compliance report within five days from receipt of the order.