Cavite town vice mayor gets 7 years for malversation

MANILA, Philippines — The vice mayor of Noveleta town in Cavite has been sentenced to a maximum of seven years in prison for malversation of public funds.

Dionisio Torres was found guilty of pocketing P1 million in livelihood assistance fund when he was mayor, according to a 35-page decision released yesterday by the Sandiganbayan’s Third Division.

Torres was also ordered to pay a fine of P1 million and perpetually disqualified from holding public office.

Filed by the Office of the Ombudsman in 2013, the case stemmed from the municipal government’s receipt of P1 million in 2002 from the Office of the President to implement  former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s “Isang Bayan, Isang Produkto, Isang Milyong Piso” livelihood program.

The ombudsman said Torres opened a LandBank account where he deposited the P1 million, withdrew the money and “converted the same for his own personal use and benefit.”

”The creation of a separate bank account in the name of the municipality without prior authorization from the Sangguniang Bayan and... signing in blank the subject withdrawal slips unaccompanied by any supporting documents were highly irregular,” the court ruling read.

The Sandiganbayan  said Torres failed to account for the fund even though he claimed that the money was intended for an iodized salt manufacturing project.

The anti-graft court found no merit in Torres’ defense that former municipal treasurer Teresita Vales proposed the opening of a separate bank account for the project and withdrew the money.

“It defies human credulity that the accused, being...the mayor, would allow himself to be coerced by his treasurer despite a gross disregard of existing law, rules and regulations,” the ruling read.

The court gave weight to a LandBank signature card and four withdrawal slips  bearing Torres’ signature.

The decision was penned by third division chairman and Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang with the concurrence of Associate Justices Bernelito Fernandez and Sarah Jane Fernandez.