Mabalacat City Mayor, Crisostomo Garbo
Fund malversation raps vs Pampanga Mayor junked
MABALACAT CITY, PAMPANGA – The Office of the Ombudsman dismissed the fund malversation complaints against Mabalacat City Mayor Crisostomo Garbo and four other government officials here.
In a resolution issued by the Ombudsman dated January 27, the two-year administrative raps filed by former councilors Rogelio Yumul and Jerry Basilio were dismissed for ‘lack of merit.’
Yumul and Basilio filed the charges in 2019 against Garbo, City Human Resource Officer Merla De Leon, City Accountant Aileen Rigor, Acting City Treasurer Marlene Mendiola, and Assistant Budget Officer Narce Paquia for allegedly violating Article 220 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) by “diverting the funds” to provide special rates to some Job Order (JO) personnel of the local government.
Garbo’s camp received the Ombudsman’s resolution last March 22, stating: “The funds allocated for the salaries of the JO personnel were applied to pay for the special rates JO personnel do not constitute technical malversation.”
“Both Appropriation Ordinance (AO) No. 6 Series of 2017, and Appropriation Ordinance No. 8 Series of 2018 did not specify the number of JO personnel to be hired as well as the rate that each is entitled to receive. AO No. 8 Series of 2018 also does not contain any specification as to the number of JO personnel and their corresponding rates.
“Thus, the charge against the respondents for violation of Article 220 of the RPC must be dismissed,” the resolution stated.
Garbo said the court’s decision brings “justice for the wrongfully accused” since the evidence they presented to the court invalidated the claims of the complainants.
“It is clear to the people of Mabalacat that the funds were used in its most forthright way. Transparency and accountability have been my consistent pillars in local governance,” Mayor Garbo said.
“May the decision of the Office of the Ombudsman end this circus of political propaganda. We got a lot of work to do to better serve our people in this time of pandemic,” Mayor Garbo said.
