For pocketing P .8M, cashier gets 83 years

A Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) has sentenced to up to 83 years in prison a former cash clerk of the Philippine General Hospital who was found guilty of pocketing more than P800,000 in hospital fees in 2005.

The Office of the Ombudsman yesterday said Adelaine Bacor was also perpetually barred from working in the government and was ordered to pay a fine of P96,000 by Presiding Judge Marlina Manuel of Manila RTC Branch 22.

The Ombudsman said Bacor was found guilty of three counts of malversation of public funds, which carried a jail term of up to 16 years for each count, and another three counts of falsification of public documents, which imposed a maximum of nine years imprisonment for each offense.

The court also handed out a guilty verdict on Bacor for one count of graft, which entailed a prison sentence of eight years.

Quoting Manuel’s ruling, the Ombudsman said the government prosecutors were able to “satisfactorily [prove] all the elements of the crime.”

It said Bacor, on the other hand, “denied the charges and presented ‘a very superficial explanation that the discrepancies could be brought about by some errors.’”

The antigraft body said Bacor falsified several documents showing that she collected only a total of P21,778.50 from July to December 2005.

However, it said the actual total cash collection of the state-run hospital during the period was P883,047.60.