Ombudsman wants criminal charge vs. Dumanjug’s Gica

After facing an administrative case that led to a dismissal order against him, Dumanjug Mayor Efren Gica will have to face a criminal charge. The Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas wants him charged with malversation for falsifying and padding the amount in a restaurant receipt, the same event that led to the dismissal.

After ordering his dismissal from public service last week, the Office of the Ombudsman found probable cause to file malversation charges against Dumanjug, Cebu Mayor Efren “Gungun” Gica for falsifying restaurant receipts for meals served during a seminar in Cebu City last April 2014.

In a 15-page decision, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales recommended the filing of charges against Gica for violating Article 217 (malversation of public funds) of the Revised Penal Code, three counts of falsification of official documents, and violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

But Gica, in a text message sent to SunStar Cebu, said he plans to question the anti-graft office’s decision.

“We emphasize that the Ombudsman did not even bother to evaluate properly our evidence consisting of the four official receipts from four different restaurants and our theory that there was forum-shopping,” he said.

The decision stemmed from a complaint filed by Gica’s rival, former Dumanjug mayor Nelson Garcia, in 2014.

In his complaint, Garcia claimed that Gica, who was acting town mayor then, secured a P50,000 cash advance for the payment of meals of barangay of- ficials who attended a seminar in Cebu City.

Of the amount, Garcia said that Gica paid P21,435 for the meals when it cost only P11,435.

Garcia alleged that Gica pocketed P10,000 from the cash advance.

Graft investigation and prosecution officer III Portia Pacquiao, in her decision, said that Garcia was able to sufficiently show that the meals only cost P11,435.

She said that Gica should have returned the unspent amount of P38,565.

“The respondent (Gica) has caused undue injury to the government in said amount,” Pacquiao said. /