Ex-Navy officers found guilty of malversation

MANILA, Philippines – Two former high-ranking officers of the Philippine Navy have been convicted by the Sandiganbayan for malversation for failing to liquidate funds of the Naval Education and Training Center (NETC) in 2006.

In its decision last Oct. 25,  the Second Division said former Rear Adm. Constancio Jardiniano Jr. and Lt. Cmdr. Manuel Gimena — commander and special disbursing officer of NETC, respectively — failed to return P83,934 out of the P343,297 worth of cash advances used to buy equipment like medicines, food, and auto supplies.

According to the anti-graft court, the raps against the two — which banked on Commission on Audit (COA) reports — satisfied the elements needed for conviction due to malversation.

“Indeed, in the crime of Malversation, all that is necessary for conviction is sufficient proof that the accountable officers had received public funds, that they did not have them in possession when demand for was made, and they could not satisfactorily explain their failure to do so,” the decision penned by Associate Justice Frederick Musngi said.

The Sandiganbayan also refuted claims made by the defense, which said that state auditor Carlito Varias who issued the audit observation memorandums (AOMs) and testified against them was not a credible witness, as there was no formal audit of the funds.

The AOMs contained the notice of disallowance of the said funds.

“It bears emphasis that the accused in this case failed to give satisfactory or reasonable excuse for the disappearance of said funds. They also could not account for the said amounts and did not have them in his possession when Auditor Varias issued them the AOMs informing them of the disallowance,” the court explained.

“The defenses of the accused failed to overcome the presumption of law […] when Varias issued the AOMs informing them of their disallowance of the questioned amounts, not only did the accused fail to make the same readily available, they also could not satisfactorily explain its whereabouts,” it added.

Despite the conviction for malversation, which merits a prison sentence of four years, two months and one day up to a maximum of eight years and one day, both were acquitted in four other falsification of public documents cases due to the prosecution’s failure to prove their guilt.

With the decision, Jardiniano and Gimena are also perpetually disqualified from holding any public office and were ordered to pay the amount of P83,934.

/atm