Unauthorized collection of P46K from students violation of Anti-graft law
The Office of the Visayas Ombudsman has indicted a public high school teacher in Cebu City after it found probable cause to charge the teacher for collecting unauthorized fees amounting to P46,440 from his students.
The anti-graft office said that unauthorized collection of fees by teacher Rico Masong Cayanan from the students is considered a violation of Section 3 (a) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
Cayanan, a Cosmetology instructor at Abellana National School, was already suspended for six months and one day without pay after anti-graft office found him administratively liable of “conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service” for the unauthorized collection of fees along with his improper behavior.
The case stemmed from an anonymous caller’s report, informing the Ombudsman about the alleged irregular acts of Cayanan. This prompted the Ombudsman’s field office to conduct an investigation on Cayanan.
During the investigation, 54 former students of Cayanan gave sworn statements that their teacher collected money from them, supposedly for the purchase of equipment to be used for their Cosmetology subject. These equipment included a second-hand air-conditioning unit, tarpaulin, electric fan, leatherette bed cover, handouts, foot spa machine, bed foam, plants, and paraffin wax.
In his counter-affidavit, Cayanan denied the charges against him.
He said the students agreed among themselves to pool their resources to purchase the equipment.
Cayanan insisted that the specialized course of Cosmetology needed training facilities such as a beauty care spa room and a laboratory with functional equipment that the school did not provide.
He said he had to buy the needed equipment and tools, which he claimed to let the students use for free.
In her resolution, Graft Investigation Officer Irish Amores said that there was “manifest partiality and evident bad faith” on the part of Cayanan when he collected fees from his students on several occasions and doing so would be prohibited by a 2012 department order issued by the Department of Education.
Amores said that it was not the responsibility of the students to buy the equipment supposedly needed for the course.
Under Section 3(a) of RA 3019, the offense has three elements, namely that the accused is a public officer discharging official functions, that he must have acted with manifest partiality, evident bad faith, or inexcusable negligence, and that his action has caused undue injury to any party, including the government.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
