Appeals court clears Cebu City education exec of graft charge

CEBU CITY — The Court of Appeals has reversed an earlier decision of the Ombudsman finding the education department’s city division superintendent guilty of malversation.

Earlier, the Ombudsman suspended the education official, Leonilo Oliva, after finding him guilty of malversation of public funds and violation of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Practices for Public Officers and Employees.

A lawyer, Jose Madarang, alleged in a complaint that Oliva incurred an unliquidated cash advance of P367,076.16 "to the damage and prejudice of the taxpayers."

Madarang claimed that Oliva refused to liquidate the advance despite repeated demands and notices.

The unliquidated cash advance came from the P500,000 allocation which Oliva received on Nov. 22, 1995 for the expenses of the city’s delegates to the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association Meet.

In his counter-affidavit, Oliva said a liquidation ceiling of P150,000 imposed by the Commission on Audit for the entire city government "prevented him from immediately liquidating the amounts indicated in the complaint."

Oliva said that since May 22, 1998, he has submitted liquidation reports, with supporting documents, to the city accountant for the approval and issuance of special journal vouchers.

The city accountant, however, returned his reports because they did not comply with certain requirements which he was not aware of then.

On Oct. 13 last year, Ombudsman Aniano Desierto approved the decision of the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas to suspend Oliva.

After his motion for reconsideration was denied, Oliva appealed his case to the Court of Appeals.

Subsequently, the Court of Appeals reversed the Ombudsman’s ruling, saying that the anti-graft body’s findings, which showed that Oliva failed to liquidate the cash advance on time, were not supported by records.

In its decision, the Court of Appeals said Oliva liquidated P146,265.65 on April 14, 1997, one year and five months after receiving the P500,000 cash advance.

Oliva also made four more liquidations of his cash advance even before Madarang filed the administrative complaint against him, the court said.

Oliva reportedly liquidated P156,112 on Nov. 28, 1997; P58,600 on June 29, 1998; P8,100 on Sept. 28, 1998; and P12,098 on Oct. 14, 1998.

The court said the Ombudsman overlooked the fact that Oliva’s inability to immediately liquidate his cash advance was due to COA Circular 92-386 which set the liquidation ceiling for all departments of Cebu City at P150,000.

"Records likewise show that before Oliva knew of the COA circular, he already submitted liquidation reports of more than P150,000 each and was on his way to liquidating the entire cash advance, until his liquidation reports were returned for non-compliance with certain COA auditing requirements," the appellate court said.

Although findings of administrative agencies must be respected as long as they are supported by substantial evidence, even if such evidence might not be overwhelming or even preponderant, Oliva’s case is an exception, the court added.

It summed up by declaring that the Ombudsman "seriously erred" in finding Oliva guilty of malversation when, in fact, there is nothing to show that his actions were prejudicial to the best interest of the service. — Freeman News Service