Ex-Phivolcs official charged with embezzling Unesco fund

MANILA, Philippines — A former official of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) was charged before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court on Friday for the loss of funds from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco). Charged with embezzlement was Nanette Melosantos, former head of Phivolcs finance and administrative division, who is now said to be detailed at the Japan International Cooperative Agency (JICA) office. The Office of the Ombudsman said it found probable cause to charge Melosantos of embezzling the amount of US$33,646 of Unesco funds meant for the Phivolcs’ research projects. She was charged with violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, nine counts of malversation of public funds and three counts of falsification of official documents. The Ombudsman dropped the cases filed against former Phivolcs Director Raymundo Punongbayan were following his death on April 28, 2005, in a helicopter crash while inspecting a calamity stricken village in Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija, Based on records, the cases stemmed from the complaints of Alma Riconalla, action center coordinator of the Fellowship of Christians in Government, Inc. (Focig), who alleged that the respondents conspired in the irregular disbursement of funds they received from Unesco. In a 33-page resolution, investigator Leilani Tagulao-Marquez said Melosantos was involved in disbursing Unesco funds amounting to hundreds of thousand of dollars, which were not duly accounted for or recorded in the Phivolcs books. It said the amount of US$33,646.72 was improperly and incorrectly reported and charged against Unesco funds. It also said tMelosantos prepared false liquidation reports for the approval of the late Punongbayan and withdrew and disbursed the Unesco funds without complying with government procedure. Denial In her counter-affidavit, Melosantos denied all the accusations against her. She claimed that she neither participated in any of the transactions entered into by Punongbayan nor connived with him. But Tagulao-Marquez ruled that it had been undoubtedly and clearly established by the records that Melosantos was responsible in the preparation of the financial statements relative to the disbursement of the Unesco funds. “The existence of evident bad faith on the part of respondent Melosantos is, therefore, clearly established by her act of knowingly preparing and submitting Financial Reports on Unesco funded projects…," Marquez said. Among these, she said, were expenditures for a fictitious field trip to Taal Volcano; overstated plane fare of foreign speakers; overstated organizational costs and expenses for field trip to Pinatubo Volcano; unpaid per diems of speakers and expenses which are properly chargeable against Phivolcs as required under the contracts between Phivolcs and Unesco to the damage and prejudice of Unesco in the total amount of US$33,646.72. - GMANews.TV