34 counts of malversation against port officer

CEBU, Philippines - The Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas indicted a special collection officer of Cebu Port Authority (CPA) for 34 counts of malversation of public funds thru falsification of public documents.

This is after Danilo Sultan who is assigned in the Municipality of Poro, Camotes failed to account for the missing funds amounting to P41,641.33.

Graft investigator Irish Amores said since there were 34 official receipts involved in the commission of crime the respondent must be charged for 34 counts of the said case.

Amores recommended the filing of the Information (charge sheet) of the case before the court.

In his complaint, CPA General Manager Angelo Verdan alleged that the respondent apologized to him about the missing funds and expressed his willingness to pay, but failed to do so.

In order to bolster the complaint, Verdan attached the joint-affidavit of the audit team. In the said affidavit they stated that they conducted an audit in April 2009 in Poro wherein they approached some regular port users and requested to present the records and copies of the official receipts which the CPA has issued them.

The audit team said despite their efforts only Samuelito Garciano cooperated.

“The original copies of the OR (Garciano’s copy) and the duplicate copy for the Commission on Audit in the transactions covered by the Summary Report, shows that respondent merely collected a total amount of P981.09 when the amount he (respondent) actually collected is P37,426.20 or a difference of P36,445.11,” resolution reads.

The audit team likewise said they discovered another discrepancy committed by the respondent based on the receipt he issued to a certain Lanie.

“In Lanie’s case, respondent actually collected the amount of P6,055.72 instead of P859.50 as what appears in the COA receipt or a difference of P5,196.22,” the resolution reads.

In the 34 official receipts, 29 were owned by payor Garciano while the other five were owned by payor Lanie.

The respondent denied the allegation in his counter-affidavit.

“Respondent said he never falsified receipts nor did he has custody of the lost amount nor used the same for personal benefit. As far as the money he personally collected, the same were allegedly properly accounted for and turned over to the CPA,” the resolution reads.

He added he was not alone in collecting fees in Poro as there was a newly assigned employee, Geneses Cunanan.

The respondent alleged that he pre-signed the blank receipts to be used by Cunanan in his collection work. That set up allegedly went on for several years until the audit team came.

He argued it doesn’t mean that he took possession of the missing funds when he admitted the liability of accepting the responsibility and made an apology.

But Amores in her resolution said the discrepancy of the amount reflected in the official receipts was “presumed to have been collected and received by respondent being the collecting officer.”

She added that though the defenses of respondent that Cunanan engaged in collection work, this cannot be “well-taken.”

“It is worthy to consider that during the audit, respondent never pointed to the audit team about the presence of Mr. Cunanan and the latter’s possible involvement in the missing funds,” resolution reads.

The Office of the Ombudsman dismissed the respondent from service after he was found guilty of administrative case for serious dishonesty. (FREEMAN)