The Office of the Ombudsman has found probable cause to indict former Surigao del Norte governor Francisco Matugas, along with his provincial budget officer Ma. Myrla Padayhag for alleged illegal transfer and disbursement of P60 million in provincial funds intended for disaster management.
In a resolution, Ombudsman Samuel Martirez said the respondents violated Section 3 of Republic Act 3019 as amended based on a complaint filed by Oscar Pospia Jr. on June 6, 2023.
“Evidently, theRe was no ordinance authorizing Matugas to augment and transfer funds. Hence, the realignment and disbursement of funds amounting to a total of P60 million used in the procurement of the Disaster Risk Reduction – Climate Change Adaptation mainstreamed learning materials and the supplementary learning materials had no basis and, therefore, illegal,” the decision read.
The Ombudsman ordered the filing of the case before the Sandiganbayan.
The provincial government previously signed three memoranda of agreement with three local school division superintendents wherein provincial funds worth P60 million were transferred to Department of Education for the procurement of multi-million-peso worth of books and other learning materials for elementary school children.
”The funds were deviated from the public purpose from which the said funds were intended. Corollary, the subject MoAs entered into by Matugas with three Schools Division Superintendents were unauthorized and bereft of any legal basis,” the Ombudsman noted.
Although a governor is authorized to grant financial aid to line agencies, the Ombudsman said the diverted funds covered by a memorandum of agreement between Matugas and the Department of Education (DepEd) was taken from the funds of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO which has no legit allocation for financial assistance to the DepEd.
“Matugas and Padayhag cannot evade liability by citing an irrelevant DILG Memorandum Circular (authority to transfer funds) since the fund was intended to be utilized by the PDRRMO as the implementing office and not the DepEd,” the resolution stated.
Brushing aside the respondents’ arguments, the Ombudsman maintained that the mere act of diverting public funds from purposes other than for which they were originally intended “consummates the crime regardless of the lack of criminal intent.”
Pospia asserted that the fund diversions were done in March of 2022, less than two months before the May 2022 elections amid Surigao del Norte’s massive devastation brought by super typhoon “Odette” in December of 2021.
