Former mayor gets 1-year jail term for unliquidated P50,000

MANILA, Philippines - For failure to liquidate the rather measly amount of P50,000 seven years ago, the Sandiganbayan has sentenced a former municipal mayor of Balingoan, Misamis Oriental to one year in jail.

In a 36-page decision penned by Associate Justice Gregory Ong, the anti-graft court’s Fourth Division found former mayor Edgar Santos guilty of failure to render accounts penalized under Article 218 of the Revised Penal Code.

Records show that Santos was granted a P50,000 cash advance for his travel expenses to Manila in February 2004 but he failed and refused to account for it within the prescribed period in violation of Commission on Audit Circular No. 97-002.

Santos, the Sandiganbayan said, should have rendered an account within two months from March 22, 2004 or by May 21 that year to save himself from any criminal liability, yet the undated report he filed showed that it was submitted only on July 5, 2004.

“Even if the required liquidation report is actually submitted, if done so by the accountable officer beyond the period, criminal liability will nonetheless subsist,” the anti-graft court said.