Raps readied vs mayor who used gov’t funds to pay own expenses

Cabadbaran mayor Dale Corvera. PHOTO FROM CABADBARANADN.GOV.PH

For using public funds to travel and visit his children and pay the hotel accommodations of his wife, an Agusan Del Norte city mayor is set to face malversation and graft raps before the Sandiganbayan.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales approved the filing of a malversation and graft case against Cabadbaran mayor Dale Corvera for using P362,154.85 of the city’s public funds for personal use from May 2011 to June 2014.

Morales found probable cause against Corvera for using public money for personal travel which included detour trips to Cebu City to visit his children.

Corvera was also said to have used taxpayers’ money to pay for the meals and hotel accommodations of his wife.

For Corvera, the travel expenses were incurred for his attendance in the activities of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP).

In the resolution indicting Corvera, Morales said “the public character of BSP cannot serve as valid justification for charging against public funds expenses incurred for attending its activities.”

“All documents are clear enough to show that expenses have been spent, and the nature of such expenses,” the Ombudsman said, adding that as the chief executive of Cabadbaran, Corvera has control over the funds and is accountable for these.

Under the Revised Penal Code, malversation is a criminal offense of using public funds or property for any other purposes other than which it was appropriated for under the law or ordinance.

Meanwhile, under the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, graft is a criminal offense of giving undue advantage or causing injury to government or a private party. IDL

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