Four Mangaldan employees remain charged for corruption
MANGALDAN—The Ombudsman has decided that the charges for 23 counts of malversation of public funds and violation of R.A. 3019 (Anti- Graft and Corrupt Practices)against four municipal employees will remain.
In denying the motion for reconsideration filed by the four employees: municipal accountant Evelyn Bernabe, municipal treasurer Susana Bauzon, assistant municipal treasurer Marilyn Gonzales and Belen Aquino, head of the Human Resource and Management Office (HRMO), the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon ruled “There was conspiracy among the respondents as implied from their action and based on their participation as narrated by the respondent Gonzales hence they are all equally liable”.
In their motions filed last August 2014, the four pleaded that the findings of probable cause against them was premature since there were no pending issues that had to be resolved by the Commission on Audit (COA) and that the findings of conspiracy were supported by the facts and evidence of the case.
The Ombudsman dismissed the claimed prematurity of the findings on probable cause because the evidence would not be derived from the findings of COA.
“The preliminary investigation of this case is not dependent on the outcome of investigation conducted by COA as their purpose is different from each other. The first involves the independent determination of aspect of the commission of a crime while the other relates to the administrative aspect on the expenditure of public funds.”
Furthermore, the Ombudsman maintained the respondents neither presented new evidence nor raised compelling reason for them to reverse or modify its earlier resolution.
The charges against the four employees emanated from a complaint filed by late Mayor Herminio Romero.
Meanwhile, Bernabe, Bauzon and Gonzales still waits for the decision on the motion for reconsideration filed against the decision of the Civil Service Commission (CSC), dismissing them from service having been found guilty of grave misconduct last June 26, 2014. (Hilda Austria/PNA)
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