Administration Order No. 68, July 16, 1963

MODIFYING ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 288, DATED JANUARY 23, 1959, CONCERNING DR. CRISTOBAL SANTIAGO, FORMER MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE NATIONAL WATERWORKS AND SEWERAGE AUTHORITY, BY CONSIDERING HIM EXONERATED.

Under Administrative Order No. 288 dated January 23, 1959, Dr. Cristobal Santiago was considered resigned as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Waterworks and Sewerage Authority (NAWASA) for alleged improper conduct in connection with the drilling of a well belonging to his father-in-law.

Respondent seeks reconsideration of the decision for supposed lack of valid cause to justify the same. It is claimed, among other things, that there is nothing to show that the respondent had something to do with the acts complained of; and that if ever the NAWASA personnel cleaned the well of his father-in-law, it was in reciprocation of the accommodation they had received from him, for which they alone were responsible.

A review of the record shows that a private well in Suklain, Arayat, Pampanga, belonging to respondents father-in-law was repaired and cleaned (not drilled) by NAWASA men when they were in Arayat to clean Wells Nos. 9019 and 9020, in which government time and equipment were used, the owner furnishing the materials. The well in question was also being used by people in the neighborhood. The tenants of the respondent and/or of his father-in-law happened to be very accommodating to the NAWASA personnel during their stay there and these men, out of a natural feeling of gratitude, tried to reciprocate in some measure which redounded to the benefit not only of respondents relative but also of the people in the vicinity.

The NAWASA Board of Directors in Resolution No. 68, dated February 16, 1959, noted, among other things, that the decision made no reference to any intervention on the part of the respondent in the repair and cleaning of the well involved and that the NAWASA crew did the job voluntarily, in reciprocation of, and out of gratitude for, the accommodation extended to them by respondents father-in-law, without anybody exercising pressure or influence on them. The old NAWASA Board therefore recommended the reconsideration of Administrative Order No. 288, series of 1959, by exonerating respondent, which was left unacted upon by the last administration.

From a restudy of the case, the observations of the NAWASA Board appear well taken. Under the attendant circumstances, I believe that the penalty of separation meted out to respondent was too severe. In fact, the investigator had recommended mere reprimand. However, respondent has already been replaced in a permanent capacity since April 17, 1959, which circumstance must be taken into account in the disposition of the instant petition, considering that there are no fixed criteria for the appreciation of evidence and the imposition of penalty is largely a matter of sound discretion. As representations have been made that the respondent is not after reinstatement but merely to have his name cleared, it is believed that the request for reconsideration may be given due course on that understanding.

Wherefore, Administrative Order No. 288, dated January 23, 1959, is hereby modified in the sense that Dr. Cristobal Santiago is considered as exonerated.

Done in the City of Manila, this 16th day of July, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and sixty-three.

(Sgd.) DIOSDADO MACAPAGAL

President of the Philippines

By the President:

(Sgd.) RUFINO G. HECHANOVA

Executive Secretary