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SB-12-CRM-0273 People Vs Pedro Busgano Acharon

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SB-12-CRM-0273 People Vs Pedro Busgano Acharon REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES Quezon City Seventh Division PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Plaintiff, SB-12-CRM-0273 -versus^ For: Violation of Section 3(e)9 Republic Act No.3019, as amended. PEDRO ACHARON, JR, y BUSGANO, MARCELINO DOSPUEBLOS y ESPLANA and CHRISELDA L MACION y CLARISA, Accused. Present: Gomez-Estoesta,J, Chairperson Trespeses, J. Hidalgo, J. Promulgated on: mb DECISION HIDALGO,/.: The present case teaches us that the term "liquidation" is not merely a rhetoric term mentioned in our government accounting and auditing rules. Ip fact, it is considered as a legal obligation, knowingly or unknowingly imposed to us as a consequence of our membership in government service. The obligation to liquidate forms part of our sworn duty to work side by side witih the Government to serve the People - the very foundation of the principle of public accountability. In an INFORMATION dated October 23, 2012', Assistant Special Prosecutor Sheri P. Zales charged accused PEDRO ACHARON, JR., y 'Record, Vol. 1, pp. 1 to 4 / Decision People vs. Acharon, et al SB12-CRM-0273 Page 2 of 77 BUSGANO(accused Acharon), MARCELINO DOSPUEBLOS y ESPLi^^ (accused Dospueblos) and CEKISELDA 1. MACION y CLARJSA (accy^e^ Macion) pf Violating Section 3(e) of Republic Act No. 3019, as ^etidej^ otherwise knpwn as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, conimittpd. follows; "That on or about 25 May 2006 and or sometime , pripr or subsequent thereto in General Santos City, Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, accused PEDRO ACHARON,JR. y BUSGANO, a high ranking public officer with Salary Grade 30, being the City Mayor of General Santos City together with accused MARCELINO DOSPUEBLOS y ESPLANA, a public officer being the designated City Finance Administrator of General Santos City, both accused and coyunitting the offense in relation to office, acting with manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence together with accused private person CHRISELDA I. MACION y CLARISA being the President and representative of GSC Tourism Association, Inc., a non-governmental organization, all accused conspiring and confederating with one another did then and there wilfully, unlawfully and criminally cause the two cash advances amounting to PI,500,000.00 and PI,000,000.00 under Land Bank of the Philippines check number 540316 and 540420, respectively, or in the total amount of P2,500,000.00 purportedly for the "Pagana Dinner Show and Tambayayong Festival" in Los Angeles, California, United States of America on June 9- 16, 2006 knowing fully well that said amount was ' intended for 37 participants when in fact only 17 participants were able to participate in the said festival and, thereafter, the said accused failed to liquidate the amount of P2,500,000.00, thereby causing undue injuiy to the Government in the aforesaid amoimt. CONTRARY TO LAW". After the Information was filed, a Hold Departure Order^ and an Order of Arrest^ both dated Januarys 7,2013 were issued against three accused. Ou February 11, 2013, accused Macion posted a cash bond before the Regional Trial Court of Surallah, South Cotabato, Branch 11 for her provisional liberty in the amount of Thirty Thousand Pesos(P 30,000.00). Accused Acharon aihd ^ Record, Vol. 1, p. 188 ^ Record, Vol. 1, p. 190 { ■) Decision People vs. Acharon, et al SB12-CRM-0273 Page 3 of77 accused Dospueblos likewise posted their respective cash bonds in the amount of Thirty Thousand Pesos (P 30,000.00) before the Regional Trial Court of General Santos City, Branch 35. Prior to their arraignment, accused Acharon and Dospueblos fifod a Joint Motion to Quash"^ while accused Macion filed her Motion to Dismiss^ which were both DENIED in a Resolution dated January 7, 2014.^ Their respective Motions for Reconsideration were also denied.^ Consequently, accused Acharon was arraigned on March 18, 2014 and pleaded NQT GTJILTY to the crime charged. Accused Dospueblos also entered the g^e plea of NOT GUILTY to the crime charged during his arraignment qn J^uaiy 30, 2015. On record, accused Macion was arraigned on Janua]^ 2|, 2Q15 ^d entered her plea of NOT GUILTY. Thereafter, Prelimini^ Conference and Pre- Trial Conference then ensued. THE CASE EVIDENCE FOR THE PROSECUTION To substantiate the material allegations in the Information, the prosecution presented both testimonial and documentary evidence. TESTIMONIAL; The prosecution presented the following witnesses: HERMAN BILLIONES JUMILLA,Filipino, 59 years old, married. State Auditor IV of the Commission on Audit of Davao City, residing at No. 7 Jade Street, Doha Francisca Homes, Matina, Davao City During his testimony, he said that he is currently a State Auditor ly and he started his employment at the Commission on Audit(COA) in 1978. Frpip 2006 tp January 2010, he was the Audit Team Leader occupying the position of State Auditor IV in General Santos City. His team members were Sf^fo Auditor II Movinia Linghon who was assigned at General Santos City General Fund; State Auditor II Cenon Tesurero assigned at General Santos City Trust Funds and Infrastructure Fund; State Auditor I Annie Mandanas and Statq Auditing Examiner I, Salvador Bertulfo. As Team Leader, the following dtp ^ Record, Vol. 1, pp. 247 to 250 ^ Record, Vol. 1, pp. 279 to 296 ^ Record, Vol. 1, pp. 320 to 327 ^ Resolution dated September 2,2014, Record, Vol. 1, pp. 429 to 434 f\ i Decision People vs. Acharon, et al SB12-CRM-0273 Page 4 of77 his duties: a)to audit the cash and accounts oftlie City of General Santos and other municipalities including the Municipality of Maasim and Municip^lify of Kiamba in Saranggani Province.; and b) to audit Disbursement Vouchers includipg cash advances granted to non-government organizations. In the conduct ofthe Post Audit and Examination ofthe cash accounts of General Santos City for the year 2006, he said that he divided the ^orlc among his te^ members to audit vouchers and all documents supporting thereto. In case there are deficiencies in the audit, the matter is referrecJ jtQ him for further audit. He recalled that there were three non-government organizations that received cash advances fi'om the City Government of General Santos in 2006 namely:(1) General Santos City Chamber of Commerce;(2) General Santp$ City Tourism Association (GSC Tourism Association) headed by jts prjesidenit, Criselda Macion and (3)Dangpanan Foundation.® He clarified ft^t the c^h advance granted to GSC Tourism Association was for its p^icipation in the *'Pagana Dinner Show and Tambayoyong Festiy^l^', ^ culturd arts presentation, held in Los Angeles, California, United States of America on June 9 to 16,2006.^ In the Pagana Festival, the GSC Tourism Association was among the participants. Cash advance was given as evidenced by disbursement vouchers in the amount of One Million Five Hundred Thousand Pesos Pesos 1,500,000.00)*® and Acknowledgment Receipt No. 001.** Other supporiihg docunients identified by him include Journal Voucher in the amount of0he Million Five Hundred Thousand Pesos (P 1,500,000.000)*^ Voucher in tite aniount of One Million Pesos (P 1,000,000.00)*^ which was(sic) acknowledged by Official Receipt No. 002*"* issued by the General S^tpS City Tourism Association, Journal Entry Voucher in the amount of 0n0 Million Pesos (P 1,000,000.00)*^; Obligation Slip in the amount of Two Million Five Hundred Thousand Pesos (P 2,500,000.00)*^; Work ^4 Financial Pl^ and Request for Allotment in the amount of Two Million fiyp Hundred Thousand Pesos (P 2,500,000.00)*^; another Work and Financial Plan for the year 2006*®; Subsidy to NGO PO in the amount of Two Million ® TSN dated October 7,2015, pp. 17 to 18 ^ id Exhibit B-3 *'Exhibit B-4 *2 Exhibit B-5 Exhibit B Exhibit B-1 Exhibit B-2 Exhibit B-6 ® Exhibit B-7B-8 ^ 1 Decision People vs. Acharon, et al SB12-CRM-0273 Page 5 of 77 Five Hundred Thousand Pesos (P 2,500,000.00)^^; Affidavit of Chrisel^a Macion requesting for the allocation of funds^®; Memorandum of Agreement^^; Certificate of Accreditation^^; Certification from the Secujitie^ and Exchange Commission(SEC)^^; two (2) checks one for One Million pesos (P 1,000,000.00) and the other is in the amount of One Million Five Hun4fe(i Thousand Pesos(P 1,500,000.00).^"^ Similarly, he identified the signatures of accused Acharon and accuscjd Dospueblos as appearing in Boxes "A" and "B", respectively on the Disbursement Voucher in the amount of One Million Five Hundred Thousand Pesos.^^ He also identified the signature of accused Dospueblos, the City Administrator as appearing in Box "D" and explained that this signahirc means that the City Mayor delegated the City Administrator to sign the disbursement voucher.^^ However, because of the objection on the part of the defense counsels that the documents mentioned and being identified by witness Jiimilia ^e mere photocopies, he was excused for the meantime on the witness stand until such time that the prosecution was able to produce original copies of th^ documents witness Jumilla identified.^^ When he was called anew to the witness stand on February 1, 2017? he recalled that the cash advance granted to GSC Tourism Association in Ae amount of P 2,500,000.00 was not liquidated on time Le. within sixty 0^ days after the completion of the activity sometime around June 2006 required by COA Circular No. 97-002. There were also deficiencies found in the course of the audit namely,(1) there was no Securities and Exchwge Commission (SEC)registration as a requirement for accreditation as a f^onr Government Organization (NGO) as required under COA Circular Np. 96r 003 dated February 27, 1996,(2) there were no financial statements for fb? last three (3) years and,(3) there were (sic) no list of project undertaken ]by GSC Tourism Association to show that it was capable of undertaking tjip proposed project.^® These findings of[deficiencies] can be found on pages 50, 60,61 and 62 ofthe Annual Audit Report^^ His observations were included in the Annual Audit Report for the year ended December 31,2006 which was released [only] in 2007 {Exhibits "G" to "G-83").
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