Ex-Bohol mayor gets 48 years

For P105,000 fake reimbursement claims

MANILA, Philippines — Former mayor Apolinaria Balistoy of Cortes, Bohol has been sentenced to up to 48 years in prison for falsifying her attendance in seminars to get reimbursements totaling P105,000.

In a 43-page decision promulgated on Dec. 11 and released yesterday, the Sandiganbayan’s Fourth Division said Balistoy was found guilty of graft and falsification of public documents.

She was also found guilty of five counts of the complex crime of malversation of public funds through falsification of public documents.

Balistoy was sentenced to up to eight years in prison for graft with the accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification from holding public office. She was ordered to indemnify the Cortes municipal government P105,000, with an interest of six percent per annum until fully paid.

For the falsification offense, Balistoy was sentenced to four to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of P5,000.

She was sentenced to up to 30 years in prison for the five counts of malversation through falsification offense. She was also ordered to pay a fine of P105,000 with an interest of six percent per year until fully paid.

Filed by the Office of the Ombudsman in 2017, the cases stemmed from Balistoy’s receipt of P105,000 in reimbursements for the expenses she supposedly incurred when she and her son attended training sessions on local environmental governance and barangay e-agri from May to October 2010.

The ombudsman said Balistoy did not attend the seminars and submitted falsified official receipts as well as falsified certificates of attendance to support her reimbursement claims.

In convicting Balistoy, the court said the prosecution panel was able to prove that the documents she submitted were falsified.

Balistoy’s son was not entitled to attend the seminar as he is not a public official or employee, it added.