Ex-consul gets 8 years for claiming to be a UP grad

A former consul general in Japan was sentenced to up to eight years of imprisonment for falsification of her personal data after she claimed that she was a graduate of the University of the Philippines (UP), which allowed her to qualify for a promotion.

In a resolution recently issued by the Sandiganbayan Second Division, Ma. Lourdes Ramiro-Lopez, former chief of mission of the Department of Foreign Affairs, was found guilty of falsification of public document and was sentenced to a minimum of two years and four months to a maximum of eight years of imprisonment. She was also ordered to pay a fine of 5,000.

According to a complaint filed by the Office of the Ombudsman with the Sandiganbayan, Lopez deliberately entered wrong information in her 2005 Personal Data Sheet (PDS), claiming to be a graduate of AB Broadcast Communication in UP Diliman in 1970.

The anti-graft court said that at the course of the trial, the prosecution was able to prove through witnesses such as professors and school officials as well as through documentary evidence such as transcript of records, certified true copy of grades and master list of graduating students of the UP College of Mass Communication, that Lopez was not able to complete the required number units to graduate from UP.

The court said it was proven by the prosecution that the courses which Lopez claimed to have completed when she cross-enrolled to Miriam College (formerly Maryknoll College) were not credited by the UP College of Mass Communication.

“The falsity of the statements made by the accused in her PDSs, specifically her ‘degree received’ is confirmed by the testimonies of competent UP school officials who attested to the fact that per school records, accused did not graduate and her units cross-enrolled in Miriam College (formerly Maryknoll) were not credited,” the court said in its resolution penned by Second Division member Associate Justice Maria Cristina Cornejo.

The resolution was concurred by Second Division chairperson Associate Justice Teresita Diaz-Baldos and senior member Associate Justice Napoleon Inoturan.

The court pointed out that while the defense’s witness, College of Mass Communication Secretary Randy Jay Canillo Solis, showed to the court a certification that Lopez has completed her thesis requirements, the prosecution’s witness, UP Associate Professor for Journalism Maria Theresa Manahan Jazmines, who handled the College’s Thesis Writing course, testified that the completion of the thesis is not equivalent to the completion of the degree.

The court also noted that there was “evident bad faith” in Lopez’s falsification of her 2005 PDS as the document will be a basis for promotion.

“She took advantage of her official position when she filled up her PDS since she had the duty to make or prepare the PDS, as it was for purpose of her promotion, hence, she had a legal obligation to disclose the truth of the facts stated in the documents,” the court said.

In a 2013 resolution, the Office of the Ombudsman had already found Lopez guilty of Dishonesty, Misconduct and Conduct Prejudicial to the Interest of the Service over the same offense, imposing upon her the penalty of dismissal from the service as well as the accessory penalties of cancellation of civil service eligibility, forfeiture of retirement benefits, and perpetual disqualification from holding public office.

Lopez began her career with the DFA as a Foreign Service Staff Employee (FSEE) I at the Philippine Consulate in New York City. She then rose through the ranks and served as Foreign Service Officer (FSO) IV, FSO III, FSO II, FSO I, Counsellor and Chief of Mission (CM) II, CM I, DFA Assistant Secretary and Philippine Consul-General in Osaka, Japan. —Elizabeth Marcelo/KBK, GMA News

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