Negros Oriental exec charged for lack of liquidation report for cash advances

State prosecutors have charged a city councilor of Guihulngan, Negros Oriental at the Sandiganbayan for his alleged failure to liquidate his cash advances.

The Office of the Ombudsman accused Councilor Paulo Edison dela Rita Jr. of failure to render accounts as defined and penalized under Article 218 of the Revised Penal Code.

Dela Rita allegedly received a total cash advance worth P209,897 from 2007 to 2010 to cover his official travel expenses and sports activities of the city.

The amounts ranged from P51,550 for a softball tournament in 2009 to P187 for his travel to Baguio City in 2008.

Dela Rita, however, failed to submit a liquidation report within 30 days upon his return to office after his travel and 20 days after the end of the year for the sports activities as required by the Commission on Audit.

The Ombudsman said Dela Rita "willfully, unlawfully and feloniously fail to render account of and liquidate the said amount for a period of two months after such amount should have been rendered."

A total bail bond of P6,000 has been recommended for Dela Rita's provisional liberty. — BM, GMA News