A FORMER mayor from Cebu is facing four counts of failure to render accounts before the Sandiganbayan for unliquidated cash advances of P585,000 six years ago.
The Office of the Ombudsman ordered the filing of the case against ex-San Remigio mayor Jay Olivar for violation of Article 218 of the Revised Penal Code.
In 2011, Olivar received P585,000.00 in cash advances for various expenses for its anti-illegal drugs campaign, Christmas celebration, Suroy-Suroy Sugbo festivity and supplies.
Despite the lapse of several years, the cash advances remain unaccounted for, the Ombudsman said.
Olivar claimed he tasked a job-order employee to prepare the liquidation documents, but due to his many tasks, the job-order employee had failed to complete the documentation when the mayor’s term ended in 2013.
Oliver added that the local government at that time was busy with its programs and projects, especially after typhoon “Yolanda” flattened Eastern Visayas in November 2013.
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales said however that Olivar’s defenses were just “self-serving and unsubstantiated.
The Ombudsman said that “as the accountable officer, respondent should have been vigilant in processing his liquidation, or if he devolved the task to other persons, he should have exercised efficient control and supervision to ensure timely liquidation of his cash advances.”
Under Commission on Audit Circular 97-002, all petty operating expenses and field operating expenses shall be liquidated within 20 days after the end of the year.
In such case, the 2011 cash advances were still reported to be outstanding as of 30 June 2015.
“Clearly, from the grant of cash advances in 2011, respondent’s failure to liquidate as of 30 June 2015 speaks volumes of his criminal transgression,” Morales’ resolution read.
