Monday, June 04, 2007 Teacher faces estafa over ‘lost’ fees
A PUBLIC school teacher will be charged with estafa for allegedly failing to turn over to the school some money she collected from her students.
The Provincial Prosecutor’s Office recommended the filing of a case against Maria Magdalera, a physical education (PE) teacher of Alcantara National High School.
Magdalera has been teaching in the school for 11 years. She was an adviser for a first-year high school class.
During the first grading of school year 2006-2007, the teacher allegedly collected P16,290 from all four sections of high school freshmen for PE uniforms and also for an electric fan, as part of a Parents-Teachers Association (PTA) project.
The uniforms and the electric fan never materialized, and the money was never turned over, which prompted school principal Clara Yosores to file a complaint.
Yosores sent Magdalera several demand letters to remit her collections but these reportedly “fell on deaf ears.”
The PE teacher was fired as a result.
Magdalera failed to answer the evidence against her. A subpoena was sent to her three times but this was never served, as she has reportedly moved away.
Assistant Prosecutor Nelia Sistoso recommended the filing of the estafa case against Magdalera before the Regional Trial Court Branch 60 in Barili.
Provincial Prosecutor Pepita Jane Petralba approved the recommendation.
“It was clearly shown that respondent (Magdalera) received the money from her students for the purpose of buying their PE uniforms as well as for their PTA project,” read the two-page resolution Sistoso penned.
“Instead of complying by delivering those PE uniforms, she instead misappropriates it for failure to account after demand was made on her,” Sistoso added. (JGA)
