Ex-PNP employees charged for unauthorized P2-M cash advances

MANILA, Philippines - A former treasurer and secretary of the Philippine National Police-Service Store System (PNP-SSS) was charged before the Quezon City regional trial court for allegedly allowing the release of more than P2 million in cash advances without the approval of their administrator.

In a five-page resolution released yesterday, graft investigation and prosecution officer Myra Zipagan recommended the filing of 21 counts of malversation through negligence charges against Monica Malagayo, former chief of the treasury section of PNP-SSS.

Also indicted for 22 counts of estafa through falsification was Mylene Dellosa, former secretary of PNP-SSS administrator Jose Antonio Salvacion.

The cases stemmed from the complaints of Salvacion, who claimed that he discovered the irregularities in October 2008 when Malagayo delivered P200,000 to his office upon the supposed instruction of Dellosa.

Salvacion said that he did not accept the amount since he did not give any instruction to Dellosa to get the amount from the treasurer’s office. He said further inquiry showed that there were 22 other unauthorized transactions since March 2008 involving the unauthorized use of his signature.  

Scanned signature

A PNP investigation showed that Dellosa used the scanned signatures of Salvacion, her boss, to facilitate the unauthorized withdrawal of PNP-SSS funds amounting to P2,217,700.

Salvacion further alleged that Malagayo was aware that the authority to make cash advances needs his written concurrence and that of the finance manager.

He said that despite knowledge of this procedure, Malagayo acceded to the unauthorized representations of Dellosa in 22 separate transactions without exerting effort to verify the transactions.

In her counter-affidavit, Malagayo maintained that she cannot be charged with malversation through negligence as the release of funds to Dellosa was by virtue of an Imprest Fund voucher which bore the signature of Salvacion.

Dellosa also denied having received the amounts, saying another person used her signatures to make it appear that she had participated in committing the offense. She did not identify the person.

But in her resolution, Zipagan explained that all the elements of malversation through negligence are extant against Malagayo as she had the custody and control of the funds of PNP-SSS and had taken by Dellosa.

“Malagayo’s negligence which paved way for the release of the funds to Dellosa was established by the fact that it was done contrary to the existing procedure for the release of cash advance,” read the resolution.

Zipagan, on the other hand, found probable cause to charge Dellosa for misrepresentation that she was sent by the complainant to secure his cash advances from the treasurer’s office.