Ombudsman orders sacking of South Cotabato municipal treasurer

MANILA, Philippines—The axe has fallen on the treasurer of the town of Tupi in South Cotabato for his failure to account for more than P700,000 in municipal funds and for using fake receipts to shortchange the government, including a receipt for more than P300,000 in taxes that was made to appear for only P30.

In a statement, the Office of the Ombudsman said Wednesday it has ordered the dismissal of Samuel Sunico for “misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.”

Besides his sacking, the Ombudsman also forfeited Sunico’s retirement benefits and disqualified him perpetually from occupying other government positions.

Citing a report from the Commission on Audit, the antigraft body said Sunico failed to explain why a total of P717,812.79 was missing from the municipal coffers.

It said the transactions involving the missing funds were made between Nov. 27, 2007, and June 17, 2008.

The Ombudsman said the official also “falsified” the duplicate and triplicate copies of a government-issued official receipt which showed that food manufacturing giant Dole Philippines Inc. paid a measly P30 in taxes.

It said the original copy of the receipt showed that Dole actually paid taxes amounting to P344,379.77.