Former Negros Oriental solon Teves faces raps for pork misuse

The Office of the Ombudsman has found probable cause to pursue graft and malversation charges against former Negros Oriental Rep. Herminio Teves over the P10-million pork barrel funds allegedly diverted to a nonexistent nongovernment organization (NGO).

At the same time, the Ombudsman also furnished the Anti-Money Laundering Council with its findings so it could separately investigate Teves’ financial transactions and locate the allegedly missing money.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Ombudsman said that Teves in December 2006 requested the release of his Priority Development Assistance Fund allocations to Molugan Foundation Inc., which he allegedly endorsed without the benefit of public bidding.

But the employees of the implementing state corporation, Technology and Livelihood Resource Center, allegedly processed the disbursement voucher and the check within a single day.

The NGO that was supposed to be a conduit for Teves’ livelihood projects for economically depressed barangays turned out to have been incorporated only in 2007, the very same year the projects should have been implemented.

The Ombudsman also cited the Commission on Audit’s special audit report on the pork barrel scam, as well as its disallowance of the payments due to the lack of documents to support the implementation of the project.

In his defense, Teves told the Ombudsman that his signatures in various documents were “products of forgery.”

However, the Ombudsman said such claims had to be “proved by clear, positive and convincing evidence” and could not just be presumed.—VINCE F. NONATO