- Petitioner
- Sabio
- Respondent
- Fio
- Citation
- G.R. No. 229882
- Court
- Office of the Ombudsman → Court of Appeals (CA) → Supreme Court (SC)
- Division
- En Banc
- Ponente
- Per Curiam
- Decided
- February 13, 2018
Summary
Former PCGG Chairman Camilo Sabio was found administratively liable for dishonesty, grave misconduct, and conduct prejudicial to service. The Supreme Court affirmed lower courts' findings that Sabio violated government regulations by incurring P25,594.76 in excess cellular phone charges beyond the prescribed P10,000 monthly cap, failed to remit P10,350,000 from sequestered corporations to the Agrarian Reform Fund as mandated by law, and failed to liquidate P1,555,862.03 in cash advances despite demands. The Court rejected Sabio's defenses that he used sequestered funds due to unreleased intelligence funds and that his criminal acquittal should preclude administrative liability. Emphasizing that public office is a public trust requiring the highest ethical standards, the Court imposed forfeiture of retirement benefits with prejudice to government re-employment, demonstrating that even high-ranking officials are not immune from accountability for misconduct.