PhlPost cashier gets 7 years over bad check

MANILA, Philippines - A former cashier of the Philippine Postal Corp. has been sentenced to a maximum of seven years in prison for accepting a bad check worth P200,000, the Office of the Ombudsman said yesterday.

A Quezon City regional trial court found Ma. Cristina Orario, who worked at the Quezon City central post office, guilty of causing undue injury to the government, an offense penalized under  Section 3(e) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

The court ordered Orario to indemnify the government P123,720 and perpetually disqualified her from holding public office.

Ombudsman prosecutors, during trial, presented documents showing that she had a cash shortage of P122,189.29 arising from her acceptance of a personal check of P200,000 representing payment for postage stamps in 2001.

However, the check was not honored since the bank account on which it was supposed to be drawn was closed.

In a nine-page decision, Branch 216 Presiding Judge Alfonso Ruiz II ruled that Orario failed to exercise caution and prudence when she accepted the check as payment for postage stamps without verifying and confirming its authenticity.

Through gross inexcusable negligence, the judge said Orario violated PhlPost rules that prohibit the encashment and accommodation of private checks.