Ex-Saranggani board member gets life for malversation

MANILA, Philippines - The Sandiganbayan has sentenced a former member of the Saranggani provincial board to life imprisonment for malversation of public funds, the Office of the Ombudsman announced yesterday. 

Marlind Marcelo was also found guilty of conspiring with former assistant provincial veterinarian Nicolas Sunio in the falsification of documents that led to the misappropriation of public funds amounting to P129,450. 

In a 48-page decision, the anti-graft court also ordered Marcelo to return the same amount to the provincial government.

Sunio was sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in jail and fined P5,000 for falsification of public documents. 

The case against former Saranggani vice governor Felipe Constantino was dismissed in view of his death while another co-accused, former provincial accountant Maria Camanay, remains at large.

Records show that in 2003, the ombudsman requested the Commission on Audit to conduct a special audit on the release of financial assistance to various non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and people’s organizations in Saranggani.

The special audit found out that financial assistance rendered to various NGOs were fraudulent or illegal, and the projects were non-existent.

The Sandiganbayan said Marcelo and Sunio falsified disbursement vouchers and supporting documents by making it appear that financial assistance was requested by the Datal Bila Multi-Purpose Cooperative (DBMPC) despite knowing that the cooperative was fictitious.  

During the trial, whistle-blower Mary Ann Gadian testified that she was assigned a “special task” of creating fictitious cooperatives and falsifying documents related to cooperatives to get funds for their personal use.

Another whistle-blower,  Sheryll Desiree Jane Tangan, testified that she signed above the names of the representatives of DBMPC who supposedly requested financial assistance. She said she also signed the by-laws of DBMPC.