Former mayor of Sibonga Lionel Bacaltos (PHOTO GRABBED FROM GOOGLE)
The former mayor of Sibonga, Lionel Bacaltos, has been indicted by the Office of the Ombudsman for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for “illegally receiving honorarium from PhilHealth”.
Back in 2012, PhilHealth sponsored a health care program which provided for honorarium for the municipal health office personnel totaling P280,197.00.
In February 2015, Bacaltos allegedly included himself in the list of recipients of the honorarium despite not being a member of the municipal health office.
According to the Ombudsman, Bacaltos cannot claim that he is part of the non-health professional/staff of the health facility, as the mention of non-health professional/staff refers to non-health professionals/staff of the health facility who provide the health services.”