PUBLIC fund scandals are hounding several top government officials in North Cotabato, six months before their terms of office expire next year.

Only recently, the Ombudsman ordered the preventive suspension of Gov. Jesus Sacdalan after a complaint was filed against him over the purported irregular release of P27 million in calamity funds.

Sacdalan will also be investigated in connection with allegations that he ordered a former provincial official to justify falsely the use of funds intended for the rehabilitation of roads damaged by last year’s flood, acting Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro said.

The complainant, Milagros Casis, former district engineer of the province’s first district, said she was repeatedly ordered by the governor to revise the program of works covering the road project in order to hide irregularities in fuel purchases.

One such transaction was made on May 26, 2008, when 134,438.72 liters of fuel was purchased from a gas station capable of storing only 16,000 liters in Midsayap town.

The evidence presented against Sacdalan showed that the procurement of fuel was “rife with badges of corruption,” Casimiro said.

“As governor, it was Sacdalan who approved the program of works covering the anomalous road projects,” Casimiro said. “His acts, as alleged, are sufficient to constitute grave misconduct, which if proven, will warrant his dismissal from service.”

Staff members of the governor’s office were also waiting for the Ombudsman’s decision over a complaint filed by provincial administrator Jerry Pieldad against Vice Gov. Emmanuel Piñol. Pieldad suspected that Piñol, when he was then governor in 2006, pocketed the P2 million in calamity funds released under his name.

The Inquirer sought Piñol for his comments, but he refused to talk. He only said his lawyers were ready to transmit their reply to the Ombudsman.

Some people close to Piñol believed that Pieldad had an axe to grind against the former governor who sought the official’s removal over questionable fertilizer deals.

In July last year, North Cotabato was placed under the state of calamity after flash floods struck and ravaged farm crops worth P800 million and infrastructure costing P194 million.

The provincial board approved the release of P20 million, but Sacdalan insisted on utilizing P45 million, or more than 70 percent of the P57-million calamity fund, for the relief and rehabilitation of the affected communities.

‘Executive risk’

Sacdalan then told media that he was taking an “executive risk” when he decided to use more than the approved amount.

On the second week of August, the board approved a resolution asking the governor and his team to explain how the P45 million was spent.

Sacdalan did not show up during the council session, saying it was impossible for him to report on the distribution of relief goods because it started only on Aug. 17. He, however, gave assurance that the money was “in good hands.”

In his complaint, Pieldad said Piñol failed to liquidate P2 million in calamity funds intended for the hospitalization of, and financial assistance to, the victims of a vehicular accident in Makilala town in 2006. Eighteen people were killed and 12 others were wounded in the accident.

Pieldad acknowledged that the unliquidated amount could not have been unearthed had Piñol not asked Sacdalan to liquidate his own cash advances this year.

Piñol “has no right to ask the governor (Sacdalan) to liquidate after one week that the province was declared under state of calamity. It was only one week after the declaration. What I am saying is he is demanding something that he himself failed to do,” Pieldad said.

Taxpayer’s suit

The complainant insisted that he was not working for Sacdalan, but because he is a constituent and taxpayer. “This is a personal battle. This is not about me being the provincial administrator but as a resident of North Cotabato—and someone who pays his tax,” he said.

In September, Pieldad filed the case against Piñol at the Ombudsman for violation of Articles 217 and 218 of the Revised Penal Court or malversation of public funds resulting from the failure to liquidate cash advances, and Section 128 in relation to Section 89 of Presidential Decree No. 1445 (limitations of cash advances).

A copy of the complaint obtained by the Inquirer included a July 23, 2009, letter of provincial accountant Meriam D. Paniza to Piñol, reminding him to “liquidate the cash advances granted to you in order to facilitate your current/future cash advances.”

If the cash advances were not settled within 10 working days, Paniza will withhold or deduct the amount from Piñol’s salary and other claims.

In his reply dated July 28, 2009, Piñol said his staff “is trying their best in reconstructing all pertinent documents relative to this matter” and that if these efforts failed, he “will provide proper restitution to the government for these unliquidated cash advances by the end of this year.”

3 checks

What followed was the issuance by Piñol of three checks, apparently as refunds for the unliquidated funds. The first, amounting to P255,000, was released on Aug. 31; the second, P300,000, was released on Sept. 30; and the third, P473,000, on Oct. 30.

“The public is interested to know if an elected public official is allowed to pay his unliquidated cash advances which were received in actual cash through personal checks. What happened to the actual cash received by Vice Governor Piñol as advances from the calamity fund which he now pays with personal checks?” Pieldad said in his complaint.

The Ombudsman is yet to act on the complaint.