THE Office of the Ombudsman has indicted former governor Jose Antonio Leviste of Batangas for his alleged failure to liquidate P151,385.42 he spent for his travels abroad in 2003 when he was then the Philippine Retirement Authority chairman.
It ordered the filing of one count of malversation of public funds under Article 271 of the Revised Penal Code against Leviste before the Sandiganbayan.
Included in the charge sheet was Philip John Moreno, then division chief II of the PRA’s financial planning and control division.
“[The respondents] did then and there willfully, unlawfully, and feloniously take, misa propriate, embezzle, a propriate and convert to their personal use and benefi public funds in their custody and control by reason of the duties of their office,” the Ombudsman’s resolution read.
A P40,000 bail was recommended for Leviste’s temporary liberty.
The malversation case arose from the PRA’s release of cash advances of P869,180.75 in 2003 to Leviste to fund his foreign travels.
Leviste was not able to liquidate, refund or account for P151,385.42 despite repeated demands from the Commission on Audit.
In 2009, the Makati City Regional Trial Court found Leviste guilty of homicide for shooting to death his former aide—Rafael de las Alas—in 2007, but the National Bilibid Prisons under the Department of Justice granted parole on Leviste and released him from prison in 2013.