SC allows trial of Ilocos Norte vice mayor for malversation

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) has given the Sandiganbayan the go-signal to proceed with the trial of Vice Mayor Pacifico Velasco of Bacarra, Ilocos Norte in a malversation case.

In a decision released Thursday, the SC’s Second Division dismissed for lack of merit Velasco’s petition for certiorari questioning the anti-graft court’s ruling in 2005 that rejected his plea for a reinvestigation.

The SC junked Velasco’s argument that he was denied due process when the Sandiganbayan junked his allegation that the special prosecutor’s office did not give him a chance to appeal his indictment.

It held that the motion for reconsideration Velasco wanted to file was “a prohibited pleading.”

“After the preliminary investigation compliant with due process, the Ombudsman, guided by the evidence presented during the preliminary investigation, formulates and designates the offense. The Ombudsman did so in this case. The formulation of the offense depends on the evidence presented, not on the conclusionary designation in the complaint,” the high court said.

“In all, we see no grave abuse of discretion on the part of the Sandiganbayan in denying the motion for reinvestigation,” it added.

Records show that Bacarra was charged with malversation of public funds for allegedly buying a road grader worth P670,000 that he subsequently appropriated as his personal property.

In his counter-affidavit, Velasco dismissed the complaint as politically motivated. He admitted requesting for cash advance from the municipality to acquire the road grader, which he said was subsequently utilized by the municipality to repair and maintain roads.

When the funds expected from the national government were not released, Velasco said he was faced with the problem of liquidating the cash advance.

Thus, Velasco said he was forced to mortgage the road grader so he could reimburse P670,000 to the municipal government.

He justified the need for replacement of spare parts and repairs to be paid out of municipal funds because the municipal government used the road grader from October 1998 up to the end of his term in June 2001.

On Dec. 11, 2002, the office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon issued a resolution dismissing the complaint for lack of probable cause.

Acting Bacarra mayor Nicomedes de la Cruz moved for reconsideration on Oct. 15, 2003.

In an order dated Feb.13, 2004, the office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon denied the motion for reconsideration.

However, Orlando Casimiro, the then Deputy Ombudsman for the Military and Other Law Enforcement Offices, pursuant to the authority given by then Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo, directed the Office of Legal Affairs to review the case.

On July 8, 2004, the Office of Legal Affairs recommended that Velasco be indicted for technical malversation, saying that while the municipal council authorized the purchase of the road grader, no sum was appropriated for it.

The P670,000 cash advance was sourced from the municipality’s funds for personal services, which were originally appropriated for the salaries of municipal employees.

When the case reached the Sandiganbayan and Velasco’s pleas were dismissed, he brought the issue before the SC, alleging that he was denied the right to file a motion for reconsideration.