A professor of the Catanduanes State University has filed a lawsuit before the Ombudsman against Pres. Patrick Alain T. Azanza for alleged violation of the anti-graft law, conduct unbecoming a public official and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.
In the complaint filed last Oct. 3, 2024 at the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon, Associate Professor V Ramon Felipe M. Sarmiento claimed that Azanza, who is reportedly running for an elective position, violated Section 3(e) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
In the conduct unbecoming rap, Azanza is accused of using derogatory language in calling someone an “abogadong pulpol” and a “trapo” in posts on his personal Meta account, in violation of Section 4(c) of RA 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.
Said provision requires civil servants at all times to respect the rights of others and to refrain from doing acts contrary to law, good morals, good customs, public policy, public order, public safety and public interest.
“Courtesy in speech and behavior is part of good morals that is expected of every individual especially from public officials and employees pursuant to RA 6713,” Sarmiento said, with the university president expected to be prudent and courteous in his conduct and his speech whether be in official functions or in his public personal social media account.
The respondent’s repeated acts of publicly posting and calling someone as abogadong pulpol and addressing another unnamed individual as a trapo while using crass language is contrary to good morals and the courteous and prudent speech expected of public officials, the complaint stated.
As head of an academic institution, Azanza is expected to be honest, speak with factual basis and not mislead the basis, Prof. Sarmiento said, citing the misrepresentation the president committed by using old photos of political leaders and celebrities with raised palms to insinuate that they support his Padagos na Patanos movement when in truth and in fact they do not.
“This act being repeatedly and consciously done by respondent is an evident lie, a dishonest act that can mislead an unscrutinizing public,” he stressed. “This is an act prohibited by Section 4(c) of RA 6713.”
“It is appalling to see a head of a state university become an intentional proliferator of misinformation,” the professor said, adding that these acts show his grave propensity to lie and his voluntariness and consent in doing the act of dishonesty to the public.
It was likewise alleged that Azanza, while discharging his functions as president, acted with bad faith and caused undue injury to the university and the government and gave himself unwarranted benefits such as the use of government vehicles and resources such as the communications channels of CatSU, his official time and even the good name of the university to popularize himself as a political patron.
This he did, Sarmiento claimed, by using the CatSU jingle to launch the Padagos na Patanos movement, purportedly the Technical Assistance Program for LGUs of the institution, with jingle promoted on the CatSU official Meta page.
Majority of photos shown in the video of the jingle were those of the president, instead of the programs of the university, the complaint said.
The tagline has become the prevailing theme in the university, included in official communications, posts and news about activities not part of the extension program.
The president is also poster boy of the movement, with his picture way bigger than the university logo in tarpaulins, pamphlets and official communications, Sarmiento pointed out.
Azanza also posted photos of him going around several municipalities using a government vehicle bearing a tarpaulin marked “Padagos na Patanos Outreach Activities” and using three employees to distribute ham around the province.
While it may be true the president used his own personal funds in buying the ham and the tarps were donated by several individuals, Sarmiento underscored that the use of the government vehicle and university employees in the ham distribution caused undue injury to the government as the ham distribution is not a program of the university.
In one event offering free eye check-up and free eye glasses under the movement, those interested were asked to contact two university employees for a supposedly personal outreach program, he charged.
The professor emphasized that by using the supposed university movement to distribute Christmas ham and post tarpaulins with his name and face in tricycles, houses and fences around the province, it would appear that Azanza hijacked the noble purpose of the program to further his vested political interests, unduly benefiting from the government resources, manpower and good will of the university.
In crossing the red line separating education and politics, the respondent not only cause distress on the university and the community and tarnished the integrity and image of his own office but also sent the university into unprecedented depths of ignominy, Prof. Sarmiento concluded.