Former Nueva Ecija governor faces graft charges

Former Nueva Ecija governor Tomas Joson III and two other former provincial officials were charged yesterday with malversation of public funds before the Office of the Ombudsman for allegedly embezzling P1.457 million from a government-owned corporation.

The complaint against Joson came after his son, Vice Gov. Edward Thomas Joson, filed last week graft charges against Gov. Aurelio Umali, wife and Third District Rep. Czarina, and three others for alleged anomalies in various projects.

The charges were filed by Raymund Sarmiento, head of the public affairs and monitoring office of the incumbent administration at the provincial capitol.

In the complaint, the former governor and his former treasurers Lilia de Jesus and Adoracion Del Rosario-Sumangil were accused of violation of R.A. 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) for their alleged failure to remit loan payments of employees of the provincial government amounting to P1.457 million to the Quedan and Rural Credit Guarantee Corp. (Qeudancor), a government owned and controlled corporation.

“For the months of August, September, October and December, 2004, February up to July, 2005, October, November and December, 2006, and January up to May 2007, the provincial government under the administration of then governor respondent Tomas N. Joson III did not remit to Quedancor the loan amortizations it correspondingly deducted from salaries of the borrower officials and employees,” Sarmiento said.

To prove his claim, the official submitted copies of disbursement vouchers for the deductions that were not remitted.

The amount that was remitted by the administration of Joson came from payments collected through salary deduction from provincial government employees that availed of the livelihood assistance program of Quendacor.

Sarmiento said the non-remittance of the funds had raised the presumption that these were spent for some other purpose, making the respondents “liable for malversation of public funds under Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code.”

He further asserted that the three “caused undue injury to the government, in violation of Section 3-E of R.A. 3019.”

Aside from failure to remit P1.457-million in loan payments, Sarmiento said the former provincial administration likewise failed to pay Quendacor the penalty of two percent per month on every delayed remittance, which was also stipulated in the said memorandum of agreement.

The complainant said Joson and his two treasurers had violated provisions of Presidential Decree No. 1445 (Government Auditing Code of the Philippines), which states that loan payments due to Qeudancor are public funds that “may be spent only for the specific purpose for which the trust was created or the funds received.”?

Sarmiento also sought mandatory preventive suspension of De Jesus and Del Rosario Sumangil, who are currently asst. provincial treasurer and chief of the Land Tax Division of the Office of the Provincial Treasurer, respectively, “to prevent them from frustrating or hampering their prosecution by intimidating witnesses or tampering with documentary evidence, or from committing further acts of malfeasance while in office.”

Joson was governor of Nueva Ecija for three terms, from 1998 to 2007. De Jesus was acting provincial treasurer from July 1 to Sept. 30, 2005, while Del Rosario-Sumangil held the same post, from Nov. 2, 2006 up to the end of Joson’s tenure in office last year.

The loan program, dubbed as Ginintuang Ani Countrywide Assistance for Rural Employment Services Program for Income Augmentation and Livelihood, was created through a memorandum of agreement signed in November 2001 by Joson and Quendacor.

It can be recalled that Joson’s son and now vice governor filed criminal and administrative charges against Umali, his wife and three others before the Office of the Ombudsman for alleged irregularities in projects, including the purchase of overpriced vehicles and illegal hiring of an information officer and a provincial consultant.

In his complaint, the younger Joson cited three cases against the governor and one each against his wife and third District Rep. Czarina, consultant lawyer Ferdinand Abesamis, administrator Alejandro Abesamis and provincial treasurer Edilberto Pancho.

Charges of gross violation of R.A. 3019, the Local Government Code and Administrative Code were filed against Umali.

The incumbent governor was accused of illegally hiring Edgardo Rillon as provincial information officer. According to Joson, Umali kept Rillon as provincial information officer even after the Civil Service Commission disapproved his appointment.

Rillon is allegedly still receiving his salary despite the CSC order against his appointment.