Manila: has sentenced a former disbursing officer of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to up to 24 years in prison for malversation and graft charges involving funds meant for emergency subsidies for more than 9,000 beneficiaries of the government's Social Amelioration Program (SAP).
According to Philippines News Agency, in a 56-page decision dated July 13 and written by Presiding Justice Geraldine Faith Econg, the anti-graft court affirmed the Manila Regional Trial Court's ruling that convicted Victoria Marites Cobico, a former special disbursing officer stationed at the DSWD's Rehabilitation Sheltered Workshop, for misappropriating over PHP4 million in public funds in 2021.
Cobico was sentenced to a maximum penalty of up to 16 years in prison for the malversation charge and up to eight years with perpetual disqualification from public office for a separate graft case. The court also ordered Cobico to return the malversed amount worth PHP4.272 million, "with legal interest at the rate of 6 percent per annum from the finality of judgment until full payment."
The money was part of the PHP74.98 million encashed by the accused and was meant for payout to beneficiaries of the SAP, aimed at assisting individuals whose livelihoods were affected by community quarantines during the coronavirus pandemic. An employee for eight years at the time she was charged, the accused claimed she was pressured into admitting during the cash count that she had lent SAP funds to a friend whose child had cancer. She also denied being the sole person who distributed SAP funds.
The court explained, "(A)ccused-appellant was specifically tasked to receive, safeguard, disburse, liquidate, and return any unexpended balance of the cash advance. Such functions necessarily carried with them legal accountability over the entirety of the funds entrusted to her." The Sandiganbayan added, in affirming the lower court's ruling, "The duty to account for public funds remains personal to the accountable officer and cannot be diluted or transferred through informal delegation or internal arrangements."
