Ombudsman axes DA execs, state teacher

Office of the Ombudsman. PHOTO from www.ombudsman.gov.ph

MANILA, Philippines–The Ombudsman has ordered the dismissal of two regional officials of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and an instructor at a state school for misappropriating public funds and falsifying official documents in connection with the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani High Value Commercial Crops Program (GMA-HVCC).

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, in a 24-page decision, found Ponciano Vinuya, DA Regional Field Unit III (RFU) project coordinator, and Julita Ponce, a teacher at Bulacan Agricultural State College, guilty of grave misconduct and serious dishonesty based on a special audit conducted by the Commission on Audit.

On the other hand, Elena Miranda, the RFU’s cashier, was found guilty of serious dishonesty.

The Ombudsman found that in November 2001, the Philippine Coconut Authority transferred P4.9 million in GMA-HVCC funds to the DA RFU III.

The RFU then engaged the services of Philippine Agriculture and Resources Research Foundation Inc. (Parrfi) as its NGO partner to conduct an impact assessment of the GMA-HVCC program at a cost of P3 million.

The COA said the official receipts, vouchers and other supporting documents used to liquidate the funds had been falsified.

The report said the amount actually paid to Parrfi was P150,000 and not P750,000 as Miranda had claimed.

The special audit also showed that no training was conducted at the Bulacan school, while the attendance sheets did not indicate the training dates. The meals bought were also considered overpriced with Ponce signing the official receipt in behalf of Dang’s Catering Services.

The COA said liquidation vouchers and supporting documents for cash advances made by Miranda totaling P847,765 were all falsified by Vinuya.

Morales said “misappropriating public funds clearly constitutes misconduct.”

In Vinuya’s case, she said, the misconduct was grave because he “willfully stole public funds” and “committed dishonesty when he falsified official receipts and financial reports in an attempt to conceal the misappropriation.”–Cynthia D. Balana