Ex-PCIC chair gets 7 years for overpriced meals

MANILA, Philippines - A former board chairman of the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) was sentenced yesterday to serve a maximum of seven years in prison for tampering with meal receipts 13 years ago.

In a 18–page decision penned by Associate Justice Samuel Martires, the Sandiganbayan’s Third Division also ordered Raul Montemayor to pay a fine of P9,000.

The Office of the Ombudsman indicted him in 2003 based on a report by the Commission on Audit (COA).

Montemayor was charged for allegedly falsifying three official receipts to make it appear that he spent more than he actually did when he dined in three restaurants for official meetings in May, June, and July 2000.

State auditors said the meals cost a total of P3,257 but Montemayor tampered them to reimburse P16,257.

Montemayor denied the allegations and claimed that he did not personally handle the receipts.

The Sandiganbayan granted Montemayor’s request to be still be out on bail while he appeals the decision.