Leyte town vice mayor, 3 charged over illegal overtime pay

MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Ombudsman has approved the indictment for graft of MacArthur, Leyte Vice Mayor Leonardo Leria and three others over the unlawful payment of P355,000 in overtime pay of municipal employees.

Besides Leria, also charged for violation of Republic Act No. 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, were municipal treasurer Daisy Cana, budget officer Arturo Zamora and accountant Margarita Dagsa, who were among those who received the illegal cash incentive from 2002 to 2004.

At the time, Leria was still the municipal mayor. He ran and won as vice mayor in 2013 under the Liberal Party.

“The collective lapses of respondents Leria, Cana, Zamoras and Dagsa in relation to the preparation, processing and approval of the payrolls clearly demonstrated bad faith and/or manifest partiality on their part,” the Ombudsman said in a statement.

Citing a circular issued by the Department of Budget and Management, the anti-graft body stressed that department heads were “not authorized to claim overtime pay.”

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales said the money was sourced from the cash advance released by the municipal government for the uniform and clothing allowance of its personnel.

“It was found during the audit that there was no existing appropriation for overtime services and that no supporting documents were submitted…,” Morales said.

The Ombudsman added that the Commission on Audit had issued a notice of disallowance directing Leria and the others to return the amount to the state coffers.  SFM