Former Bohol mayor, treasurer slapped with malversation raps

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

MANILA, Philippines—The Office of the Ombudsman filed malversation charges against former municipal officers in Bohol for their failure to properly account government funds.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Ombudsman said it filed before the Sandiganbayan six counts of malversation raps against former San Miguel mayor Silvino Evangelista.

“(F)or his gross negligence to exercise the due diligence of a good father of a family over the subject funds by not allowing [municipal treasurer Trinidad] Millare to misappropriate and misuse the same, he is liable for Malversation,” Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales said in  an 11-page resolution signed by her.

“As an accountable officer, it was Evangelista’s duty to exercise proper management over the officers of the municipality,” the resolution read.

Meanwhile, eight counts of malversation charges were filed against Millare before the Regional Trial Court in Bohol.

According to the resolution, the agency found out that from September 1998 to June 2000, six checks amounting to P553,148 were issued by the Bohol local government unit without proper documentation and disbursement vouchers.

The resolution, citing a report by the Commission on Audit, also bared that Millare failed to account P653,148 of local government funds.

During the preliminary investigation, Millare admitted that she incurred monetary obligations while she was municipal treasurer before her retirement.

Millare signed an undertaking to pay in six months, but only a partial payment of P6,148 was made, the Ombudsman said.

Meanwhile, the case against respondent Segundino Hencianos was dismissed due to his death in 2008.

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