FORMER Bacolod City mayor Monico Puentevella said on June 28 that the Office of the Ombudsman's decision to charge him for failure to account P21.5 million of the P50.5-million fund of the Bacolod Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (Basoc) is “premature.”
“It is premature for the Ombudsman to decide on the case simply because the Commission on Audit (COA) has yet to give its final resolution,” he said in a text message.
Puentevella filed a motion for reconsideration on the Basoc case before the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas.
In a press release dated June 27 posted on the official website of the Ombudsman, the anti-graft body ordered that Puentevella be tried for malversation of public funds and violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act 3019) before the Sandiganbayan.
The decision came after Ombudsman investigators found that Puentevella had failed to account for the multi-million peso funds spent for the 2005 South East Asian (SEA) Games hosted by Bacolod City.
Investigation found that in August 2005, the Department of Budget and Management issued a Special Allotment Release Order amounting to P50 million for the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) for the hosting of the 23rd SEA Games. The PSC then transferred the fund to the Basoc through checks payable to Basoc and/or Puentevella.
After liquidation of the funds and upon audit by the COA, the liquidation documents of Basoc were returned by COA without action. Several letters from 2008 to 2009 were sent to Basoc and/or Puentevella requiring the settlement of the fund. As of 2011, P21,565,832.50 remained unsettled.
Ombudsman investigators also found that the SEA Games fund was deposited to the personal account of the congressman.
In its resolution, the Ombudsman stated that, “by depositing the funds in [Puentevella’s] personal account, he had absolute custody and control of and responsibility for the funds.”
The Ombudsman explained that “the documents for the unliquidated amount were not approved by COA-PSC since these consisted of personal vouchers of respondent Puentevella and mere photocopies of invoices or contracts. The COA-PSC had already made demands on respondent to settle or liquidate the financial assistance thru two letters dated 16 January 2009 and 24 March 2009. However, respondent failed to comply.”
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales said “respondent’s failure to liquidate or account for the amount of P21,565,832.50, which was under his custody and control, despite demands and the lapse of several years from the time the liquidation was due, would necessarily lead to the conclusion that he had used the funds for his personal benefit.”
Puentevella said the liquidation was still pending and being reviewed by the COA (at the time of the filing of the complaint in February and in May 2014).
“In cases of similar circumstance, the Ombudsman recently dismissed the cases outright simply because it was still premature,” he added.
Meanwhile, Puentevella said "we are just happy that the Philippines became an over-all champion in the SEA Games 12 years ago for the first time in history because of Bacolod’s contribution."
