SurNor town mayor, four others charged
FORMER Sta. Monica town mayor Rosalinda Penera and four other government officials in Surigao del Norte province are facing charges before the Office of the Ombudsman in Mindanao over irregularities in the disbursement of funds.
Penera with municipal officials Dianette Evangelista, Aurea Menil, Gilbert Dagcuta and Lei Amor Laplana, and private citizen Rodolfo Arlan, are charged with violation of the Republic Act 3019 or The Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
Record showed that the six accused were charged with an anti-graft and corrupt law following the irregularities in the disbursement of funds for its Core Shelter Assistance Project (CSAP) worth P980,000.
The raft investigators found out that Penera and the five other accused have approved and facilitated the purchase of a parcel of land from Arlan in 2010 for the core shelter project.
Documents, however, showed that the purchase was made without prior authorization from Sangguniang Bayan and despite the absence of an appropriation ordinance.
In the resolution, the accused manifested gross inexcusable negligence from the processing of the disbursements of funds as they should have known of the irregularities of the purchase transaction as per their functions.
Despite this, they still pursued the transaction, giving unwarranted ben-
efits to Arlan. Conspiracy can be inferred from the respective participation of the accused in the purchase transaction.
In the related administrative case, Menil, Evangelista, Dagcuta and Laplana are found guilty for grave misconduct and ordered dismissed from the service.
Menil, Evangelista, Dagcuta and Laplana were also meted the accessory penalties of perpetual disqualification from holding public office and cancellation of eligibility.
In case of separation from the service, the penalty is convertible to a fine equivalent to their salary for one year, the Ombudsman said. ICT