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Saturday, September 17, 2005
Formal probe set v. Clavel, 8 others
By Karlon N. Rama
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
The Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas has resolved to file three counts of malversation of public funds against Rep. Clavel Asas-Martinez and eight others for the P26.5-million Girl Scouts of the Philippines (GSP) controversy.
Deputy Ombudsman Primo Miro approved Director Virginia Santiago’s final evaluation report (FER) that also recommended that the committee on ethics of the House of Representatives be informed of the issue, “for whatever action they may take on the matter.”
The GSP controversy centered on how Martinez (Cebu, 4th district) allegedly disbursed a total of P26.5 million from her Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) into her personal bank account by using the GSP as conduit in 2002 and 2003.
Sun.Star Cebu tried repeatedly but failed to reach Martinez for comment yesterday.
The charges, if not refuted during the formal investigation, will become a formal case before the Sandiganbayan.
Calls made and messages left in Martinez’s mobile phone, as well as that of her husband, were unanswered.
Denial
However, Martinez, who sided with the opposition during the recent impeachment proceedings against President Arroyo, denied the allegations in previous interviews.
While she confirmed that she released P11.5 million from her PDAF to the Municipality of Bogo via the GSP, the money was transferred to her bank and then to the town’s treasury. This was to expedite procedure. Martinez had said that there was no loss of funds.
But the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas did not see it that way.
“The evidence clearly established that Martinez performed acts through evident bad faith and manifest partiality (that) resulted in or caused undue injury to the government in the total amount of P26.5 million,” Santiago’s FER read.
“She is liable for the crime of malversation of public funds, as she misappropriated for her own personal use and benefit the total amount,” it further said.
Santiago’s FER, based on office procedure, will take the form of a criminal and administrative complaint, which will then be subjected to preliminary investigation and adjudication by the anti-graft office’s investigation branch.
Jurisdiction
If probable cause is established during preliminary investigation, where Martinez will be asked to answer the allegations, a criminal case will be filed against her before the Sandiganbayan, which has jurisdiction over high-ranking officials like members of the House of Representatives.
In Santiago’s FER, Martinez is charged together with her son, Celestino “Tining” Marti-nez III, and Bogo municipal officials Rhett Minguez and Cresencio Verdida. Tining is the incumbent mayor of Bogo town while Minguez and Verdida is the municipal treasurer and accountant, respectively.
Paz Radaza, wife of Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Arturo Radaza and Girl Scouts of the Philippines Cebu Council president, is impleaded in the first two counts as a conspirator, together with fellow GSP official Alejandrita Meca.
Two other GSP officials, Rhodariza Kilantang and Julieta Quiño, are impleaded in all three charges while Martinez’s daughter, Ma. Cielo, is included in one.
Radaza had previously led the GSP council in an investigation into the matter and, in April last year, “closed” the probe that she described as “internal” in nature.
Previous term
Minguez and Verdida, for their part, will also be subjected to an administrative investigation for dishonesty and misconduct.
These charges have a penalty of dismissal from service.
Mayor Martinez, however, will not be included in the administrative proceeding pursuant to the Aguinaldo doctrine, which absolves all reelected public officials from any administrative liability over offenses committed in the previous term.
The anti-graft office launched its fact-finding inquiry into the incident after it received last April 26, 2004 documents from a “concerned and troubled official of GSP-Cebu Council narrating how Congresswoman Martinez, on three occasions between June 2002 and October 2003, took out a total of P26.5 million from her PDAF and deposited it in her personal account.
According to the unnamed complainant, the transfer was made convenient by Martinez’s incumbency as head of the GSP council at that time and the assistance of her daughter, Ma. Cielo, who was then the council’s treasurer.
The charges, according to Santiago’s FER, were corroborated by a 12-page investigation report prepared by an ad hoc fact-finding committee formed by the GSP that the anti-graft office obtained in May 17, 2004.
Projects
Records subsequently obtained from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on July 1, 2004 also showed releases of several amounts representing the PDAF that were intended for the Municipality of Bogo.
The anti-graft office also got the assistance of the Commission on Audit, which conducted its own inquiry.
According to Santiago, the first two releases, worth P7.5 million each, were done on June 13 and Sept. 18, 2002; the third, worth P11.5, was made on Sept. 22, 2003.
The money, based on documentation, was for “development projects for the Municipality of Bogo,” including financing for the anti-drug campaign of the GSP.
Based on Santiago’s report, Meca appears as having requested Mayor Martinez for the release of the amount to the GSP.
Checks
The mayor, allegedly with the participation of the impleaded municipal officials, released the money through three checks. Two checks were deposited in the Land Bank of the Philippines Banilad branch, while the other one was in the Bank of the Philippine Islands Capitol branch.
However, documents showed that the checks, with the alleged help of the GSP officials, were withdrawn and returned to Congresswoman Martinez, who deposited the amount in her name and released “a very meager amount of P600,000 to the GSP, “no longer for the anti-drug campaign programs but as donation.”
“The amounts were not even taken from the P26.5-million PDAF of Congresswoman Martinez. The P500,000 came from her personal account with the Allied Bank, as shown in the Allied Bank check dated June 14, 2002,” Santiago’s report said.
The balance was in cash.
(September 17, 2005 issue)
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