Administrative Order No. 262




MALACAÑAN PALACE MANILA BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES [ ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 262, December 29, 1953 ] CONSIDERING AS HAVING RESIGNED MR. ANTONIO D. PAGUIA AS MANAGER OF THE DEFUNCT NATIONAL LAND SETTLEMENT ADMINISTRATION This is an administrative case against Mr. Antonio D. Paguia, manager of the defunct National Land Settlement Administration (NLSA) who is charged with (1) misuse of funds and dishonesty, (2) mismanagement, incompetence, and gross inefficiency, (3) abuse of power and authority, (4) illegal disposition of public lands, (5) discrimination and favoritism, and (6) communistic tendencies and terrorism. The charged were investigated by the Integrity Board which found them not substantiated, except the following: In connection with the first charge, which partly refers to the advance account of P4,000 sent by the Manila branch of the former NLSA to its Koronadal Valley Project, Cotabato, on January 26, 1950, for the payment of salaries and wages of the employees in the latter office, it appears that of said advance account, P710.65 covered disbursements for traveling expenses of personnel and various sums totaling P1,289.35 covered refunds credited in the name of the respondent. All these disbursements, which fully account for the cash advance of P4,000, were passed in audit, although the respondent was not asked to account for said cash advance immediately after his arrival in Manila from Koronadal in March 1950 because there were certain receipts left with his confidential secretary in Koronadal, which apparently caused the delay in the settlement of the cash advance. After a careful study of the case, the Board found that the respondent was rather inefficient and lax in the administration of the NLSA affairs and that he was guilty of a technical violation of the rules and regulations concerning the custody of government funds. However, considering that he has been under suspension since November 30, 1950; that his position as general manager was abolished because of the dissolution of the NLSA and as a result of the creation of the LASEDECO; that the Government did not suffer any loss regarding the cash advance of P4,000; and that he has been an invalid for a long time now, the Board recommends that he be considered as having resigned effective as of November 30, 1950, the date of his suspension. I concur in the Board’s findings and recommendation.£A⩊phi£ Wherefore, Mr. Antonio D. Paguia is hereby considered as having resigned as manager of the defunct National Land Settlement Administration effective as of November 30, 1950. Done in the City of Manila, this 29th day of December, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and fifty-three, and of the Independence of the Philippines, the eighth. (Sgd.) ELPIDIO QUIRINO President of the Philippines By the President: (Sgd.) MARCIANO ROQUE Acting Executive Secretary The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law Foundation