Sibonga SK staff faces falsification charges

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu Provincial Prosecutors’ Office indicted a staff of the Sangguniang Kabataan Federation in Sibonga for falsification of commercial documents after he allegedly faked the signature of the authorized official to make unauthorized bank withdrawals.

Provincial prosecutor Pepita Jane Petralba approved the filing of the criminal case in court for violation of the Article 172 in relation to Article 171 of the Revised Penal Code against Roderick Hong.

Hong served as administrative clerk of the SK Federation in Sibonga wherein he was entrusted to handle bank transactions. The case stemmed from the complaint filed by SK Federation president Michelle Ponce.

Ponce said she discovered sometime in April the alleged unauthorized withdrawals made by Hong against their accounts in the Rural Bank of Cebu South, Inc. when she and her fellow SK officials in Sibonga scheduled a “Lakbay Aral”, an environmental educational tour in Manila.

Ponce said she found out that their money in the bank was no longer sufficient to cover the allowances of the delegates. An examination of their bank transactions revealed that Hong made four alleged unauthorized withdrawals from February 19 to March 12 totaling P151,860.75.

According to Ponce, Hong falsified her signature in the withdrawal slips to make it appear that the withdrawals were authorized.

Ponce said she tried several times to confront Hong about it but the latter did not report for work anymore. Hong only sent a letter to her admitting to the crime and asking for an apology. — Fred P. Languido/BRP (THE FREEMAN)