Ex-mayor ‘failed’ to liquidate 12 times

CEBU, Philippines – For his alleged failure to liquidate and account for his cash advances, former Alcoy, Cebu town mayor Nicomedes de los Santos is facing charges before the Sandiganbayan.

The Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas has indicted de los Santos for 12 counts of violation of Article 218 (failure to render accounts) of the Revised Penal Code covering alleged unliquidated cash advances from November 2006 to July 2011 amounting to P199,624.

"Based on the Commission on Audit guidelines, respondent clearly failed to liquidate within the period required.  In fact, he admitted that he only processed his liquidation after he received this complaint," said Ombudsman in a statement.

"He submitted his liquidation report to COA on April 8, 2016 and refunded three cash advances on April 7, 2016," it added.

In the complaint, the Ombudsman's Field Investigation Office said that based on the list of unliquidated cash advances submitted by the COA, de los Santos had received funds to cover expenses for meals, snacks, travel expenses, police operation expenses, intelligence funds, honorarium for referees in a basketball tournament, Lakbay Aral and Aliwan Festival expenses, and Suroy-Suroy Sugbu expenses.

Under Article 218, "any public officer, whether in the service or separated by resignation or any other cause, who is required by law or regulation to render account to the insular auditor, or to a provincial auditor and who fails to do so for a period of two months after such accounts should be rendered, shall be punished by prison correccional in its minimum period, or by a fine ranging from 200 to 6,000 pesos, or both."

Aside from the criminal case, de los Santos was also found administratively liable of simple neglect of duty and ordered suspended for one month and one day.

However, in case of separation from the service, the penalty of suspension is convertible to a fine equivalent to de los Santos' salary for the same period, the anti-graft office said.

De los Santos, who ran under One Cebu party, won his final term as mayor of Alcoy in the May 2013 elections against Ompong de los Santos. —/JMD (FREEMAN)