Administrative Order No. 217




MALACAÑAN PALACE MANILA BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES [ ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 217, September 29, 1956 ] IMPOSING A FINE OF ONE MONTH’S SALARY ON CIVIL AERONAUTICS ADMINISTRATOR URBANO B. CALDOZA WITH REPRIMAND AND WARNING. This is an administrative case against Civil Aeronautics Administrator Urbano B. Caldoza for grave misconduct, oppression and persecution filed by responsible officials of the Civil Aeronautics Administration, namely, Zosimo H. Derpo, Senior Overseas Communicator; Pedro S. Reyes, Airport Manager and Chief of the Manila International Airport Division; Cesar A. Mijares, Airline Pilot; Juan A. Herrera, Jr., Associate Airways Maintenance Technician; and Juan Perez, Chief, Cash and Property Section. The charges were investigated by Atty. Jesus Paredes as Special Investigator, and the respondent was giver full opportunity to defend himself. After the termination of the investigation, the Special Investigator submitted a report finding the respondent guilty of – 1. Oppression consisting of the following acts: (a) That on July 30, 1955, the respondent issued an order transferring complainant Zosimo H. Derpo to Laoag on permanent assignment as officer-in-charge of the radio station thereat; that the complainant brought the case to the Office of the President and the respondent was ordered to hold in abeyance complainant’s transfer to Laoag; and that the respondent deferred complainant’s transfer to Laoag but assigned him temporarily in the Office of the Chief of the Airways Division, instead of returning him to his position as Acting Chief of the Overseas Foreign Aeronautical Communication Station; (b) That on June 28, 1955, he sent a letter to complainant Derpo, terminating the latter’s lease of a government cottage within thirty days from receipt thereof; that on August 11, 1955, upon orders of the respondent, the light and telephone connections in said cottage were cut off and armed guards were posted within the premises to prevent their reconnection; (c) That shortly after assuming office as Administrator, the respondent told complainant Cesar A. Mijares that he expected him to resign; that he ignored the latter on several occasions by giving direct orders to his (Mijares’) subordinates; and that the respondent disauthorized Mijares from performing his official duties, such as flying CAA planes; (d) That on July 30, 1954, complainant Juan Perez submitted a letter of resignation to the respondent; that on the same day the respondent accepted complainant’s resignation and directed him to turn over the office and the keys to Pantaleon Velasco; that three days later, the respondent sent a memorandum to the complainant reiterating his previous directive and compliance therewith within three days, otherwise the latter would be prosecuted under Article 231 of the Revised Penal Code for open disobedience of an order of a superior authority; that five months after he had been out of the service, complainant was; advised by the respondent that some items worth P100,000 were found missing; that the complainant took up the matter with the Department of Commerce and Industry where he discovered that his resignation had not been forwarded to the Department; that the Department Head directed the respondent to allow the complainant to resume his work as Chief of the Property and Cash Section; that within one month after reporting for duty, he located the items supposed to be missing; that on May 15, 1955, his salary was suspended by order of the respondent but the General Auditing Office and the Department Head upheld complainant’s right to his salary. 2. Reproachable acts and slight imprudence upon the following facts: (a) That on May 8, 1954, or four days before his return from the United States and Canada as fellow of the International Civil Aviation Organization, complainant Pedro Reyes was relieved as Chief of the Legal and Economic Affairs Division by the respondent on the alleged ground that he could not live up to the standard required by the position; (b) That on December 28, 1954, the respondent caused to be sent to Walter Nolloth, Station Manager of the Philippine Air Lines at Hongkong, through the aeronautical circuit of Manila and Hongkong the following personal radio message: “December 28, 1954 “Walter Nolloth “PAL – Hongkong “Personal favor send me two bottles Shallimar Perfume Charge my account regards “Caldoza” (c) That the respondent and his wife received on several occasions non-revenue (free) round-trip tickets for Hongkong and Taipeh from the Philippine Air Lines, the Cathay Pacific Airways, and the Civil Air Transport over which he has some kind of supervision; (d) That on May 12, 1954, the respondent allowed Paterno M. Serrano, Operations Officer, CAA, to deposit his personal funds in the amount of P2,500 with the cashier of the CAA; that subsequently the respondent submitted to the Central Bank a request for Fiscal Agency Service in favor of Serrano in the amount of $1,250 in connection with his trip to Europe as a fellow of the ICAO; and that as a result thereof, Serrano was able to take out of the country his personal funds amounting to $1,250 exempt from the 17% exchange tax; and (e) That in 1955, without the approval of the proper authorities, the respondent caused to be constructed two tennis courts in the premises of the CAA with the use of CAA personnel, equipment and old and surplus materials. The findings of the Special Investigator are well taken. Wherefore, the respondent is hereby fined in an amount equivalent to his one month’s salary, reprimanded and warned that commission of similar offenses in the future will be dealt with more drastically. Done in the City of Manila, this 29th day of September, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and fifty-six, and of the Independence of the Philippines, the eleventh.1âшphi1 (Sgd.) RAMON MAGSAYSAY President of the Philippines By the President: (Sgd.) MARIANO YENKO, JR. Assistant Executive Secretary The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law Foundation