By Edalyn B. Acta & Felipe V. Celino
For a former regional director of the Commission on Audit (COA), the administration of Roxas City Mayor Ronnie Dadivas did not commit malversation of public funds when it opened time deposit accounts.
“There was no disbursement of funds to constitute malversation of funds or technical malversation,” opined Atty. Dominador Tersol.
This is as Dadivas, City Treasurer Mimi Riano and City Accountant Teresita Bidiones are facing complaints of Criminal Technical Malversation and violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
The complaints filed before the Office of the Ombudsman stemmed from the 2023 COA Audit report that found that P402 million fund of the local government unit (LGU) of Roxas City was used in opening time deposit accounts
“The act they committed was that checking account deposits were transferred to time deposit accounts [in order] to generate interest income. The time deposits were still made in the name of Roxas City, not their names,” noted Tersol.
The mayor, treasurer and accountant are also facing complaints of Grave Abuse of Authority, Gross Misconduct, Dishonesty, and Conduct Prejudicial to the Best Interest of the Service.
For Tersol, the only violation committed was COA Circular No. 92-382 that required approval by the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) of Roxas City.
“This does not carry any criminal and administrative liabilities,” added Tersol.
Tersol also pointed out that the COA did not issue Notice of Disallowance, but only recommendations.
On its part, the Dadivas administration has already complied with the COA recommendations when the Roxas City SP issued two separate resolutions in 2024.
In Resolution No. 201-2024, the Roxas City SP authorized the deposit of P119 million in 13 separate time deposit accounts with the Land Bank of the Philippines.
In Resolution No. 202-2024, the Roxas City SP authorized the deposit of P250 million into 12 separate time deposit accounts with the Development Bank of the Philippines.
The Dadivas administration also rectified the COA findings on the P25 million Trust Fund and the P8 million from the Special Education Fund (SEF).
The complaints were filed by Carmen del Rosario-Andrade, the sister of former mayor Antonio “Tony” del Rosario, who is running for mayor against incumbent Dadivas.
