Samar provincial treasurer, accountant face criminal charges

Samar provincial treasurer Bienvenido Z. Sabenecio and provincial accountant Francasio M. Detosil face criminal charges before the Sandiganbayan for allegedly withholding payments of provincial government employees’ contributions to the Government Service Insurance System. The Office of the Special Prosecutor has found probable cause to indict the two for possible violation of Section 52 (f) of RA 8291 of the GSIS Act of 1997. Prosecutors, however, dropped charges against Samar Provincial Governor Milagros T. Tan for lack of evidence. “(T)here is sufficient evidence to show that respondents failed to remit to the GSIS the monthly contributions of the employees of the Provincial Government of Samar," the resolution of the Ombudsman said. “Governor Tan’s participation, which is the act of signing and approving the subject Disbursement vouchers, appears to be ministerial only," the resolution added. Rev. Fr. Pedrito L. Lucero, a priest in Catbalogan, Samar, who filed the complaint, accused Governor Tan and the defendants of conspiring to withhold payment of the employees’ GSIS contributions from December 2003 to February 2004. The respondents claimed they have no criminal liability because they remitted the contributions as shown in the three checks they submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman, each for the months being questioned. They also contended that the Local Government Code allows local government units’ financial autonomy to re-channel funds from one budgetary item to another based on perceived urgency. The Ombudsman, however, said that the GSIS Law was clear in setting a deadline for the remittance of contributions, and that the Samar provincial government submitted the checks beyond the period prescribed by the same law. “Respondents cannot exempt themselves from liability by mere claim of good faith and absence of criminal intent, considering that the crime of which they are charged emanates from a special law. Wherefore, finding sufficient evidence for the indictment of respondents (Sabenecio and Detosil), let the corresponding information be filed with the proper court," the Ombudsman said. –GMANews.TV