By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The Office of the Ombudsman found Bacolod City Registrar of Deeds Romulo Gonzaga guilty of misconduct and ordered him dismissed from office.

Based on information provided by the Ombudsman website, they found probable cause in charging Gonzaga before the Regional Trial Court in violation of Section 3(e) of RA 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits the influence or persuasion of a public officer to commit an act in violation of rules and regulations.

The dismissal stemmed from a complaint filed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Regional Office No. 12, where Gonzaga was accused of illegally issuing a Transfer of Certificate of Title in favor of a certain Florentino Perez without the required Certificate Authorizing Registration (CAR) and Tax Clearance Certificate.

According to the BIR, the anomalous transaction resulted in an aggregate tax deficiency of P86,231.33.

In his defense, Gonzaga claimed he acted in good faith and affirmed he could not be faulted for not meticulously scrutinizing each and every document presented to him, blaming it on a “heavy workload.”

The Ombudsman concluded, “[The] respondent flagrantly violated pertinent rules and regulations governing land titling.”

Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Paul Elmer Clemente directed the land registration authority administrator to implement the dismissal order./DGB, WDJ