Graft charges filed vs former Cebu lawmaker et al.

MANILA, Philippines—The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the filing of graft and malversation charges against former Cebu Rep. Clavel Martinez and several others for the alleged misuse of P10 million in pork barrel funds.

Also ordered charged were Martinez’s son, former Bogo Mayor Celestino Martinez III, daughter and former Girl Scouts of the Philippines treasurer Maria Cielo Martinez, GSP cashier Julieta Quino, municipal treasurer Rhett Minguez, accountant Cresencio Verdida and bookkeeper Rhodariza Kilantang.

Clavel Martinez was the President of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines in Cebu City from 1995 to 2003.

In a statement, the Office of the Ombudsman said the charges stemmed from allegations that from September 2003 to October 2003, the respondents had conspired to misuse P10 million so that it would go to the personal use and benefit of the former Cebu lawmaker.

The amount was allegedly taken from the portion of Clavel Martinez’s pork barrel, formally known as the priority development assistance fund (PDAF), which was intended for donation to the GSP in Cebu City, the statement said.

It added that the money was found to have been deposited to her personal account with Bank of the Philippine Islands.

The statement said investigation revealed that in September 2003, P11.5 million of Clavel Martinez’s PDAF was released through a check with the GSP as payee. Quino later applied for a manager’s check in the same amount, with the payee listed as GSP or Cielo Martinez.

In October that same year, P11.5 million was deposited to GSP’s BPI account, but the money was withdrawn by Cielo that same month and deposited to Clavel’s BPI account.

But it was learned that P1.5 million of the amount was erroneously released as part of Clavel Martinez’s pork barrel when it was actually for the Bayan Muna party-list.

The GSP returned the P1.5 million to the Bogo municipality, which then remitted it to the proper government office. The remaining P10 million was unaccounted for.

According to the Office of the Ombudsman, the respondents’ defense that they had returned the P10 million to government coffers in 2005 does not discount the fact that public money was embezzled and appropriated for personal use.