Barangay Sambag II court clears ex-treasurer of malversation

CEBU, Philippines - Citing insufficiency of evidence, the Regional Trial Court has acquitted the former treasurer of Barangay Sambag II, Cebu City from the crime of malversation of public funds.

 In a 16-page decision, Judge Wilfredo Fiel Navarro ruled to absolve Jesus Dalauta after the prosecution failed to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

“In failing to eradicate the serious doubt that plagues its own theory of the case, the prosecution cannot now expect a favorable judgment in this case that will surely run afoul with the presumption of innocence which is guaranteed by no less than the Constitution in favor of the accused,” the court ruled.

Dalauta was accused of misappropriating P12,516.37 public funds for his own benefit.

 Dalauta served as barangay treasurer since 1994 until he was terminated by the members of the Sangguniang Barangay on January 31, 2000.

 State auditors led by Cipriano Jimeno from the Commission on Audit found that Dalauta failed to account of the payments he received from the issuances of Community Tax Certificates, barangay clearance, and miscellaneous fees.

He also failed to liquidate the cash advances he allegedly taken from the said collections that were disbursed in order “to defray” the daily operation expenses of the barangay.  Dalauta was also accused of not having accounted for the P13,000 cash advance released to the barangay from the City Hall for the fire victims in Sitio Brupa.

Dalauta denied having misappropriated the public funds. He claimed that the alleged shortage of P121,516.37 was used to defray the daily operational expenses of the barangay.

He said the P13,000 cash advance given by the City Hall was used to purchase kitchenware which were distributed to the fire victims. He, however, said that the receipt of the purchased items was lost.

 Navarro said he was forced to rule in favor of Jumao-as because of the prosecution’s failure to rebut his claim.

“The prosecution should have endeavored to prove that the expenditures represented by said voluminous documents were actually charged against the budgetary allocations and never indiscriminately against the daily collections as the accused would have it,” the decision reads. (FREEMAN)