A decision by the Ombudsman-Visayas to deny the motion for reconsideration filed by former mayor Lionel Bacaltos on the graft complaint lodged against him should serve as a warning and a reminder to the public to remain vigilant in holding their elected officials accountable for how they spend their tax money.
In her resolution, Ombudsman investigator Rhiea Tibon questioned Bacaltos for including himself in the list of recipients of honoraria from PhilHealth even if he wasn’t qualified to receive it.
The former mayor claimed that he honestly believed he was entitled to receive the honorarium/allowance of P17,512.50 by pointing out that the allocation was also intended “for non-medical staff” like, perhaps, himself.
But Tibon, who based her resolution on a complaint filed by a municipal health worker, refuted the former mayor’s claim of “good faith” in listing himself as a recipient by saying that the “non-medical staff” referred to by PhilHealth were those “who provide health services.”
She also pointed out that the absence of a specific provision prohibiting Bacaltos from receiving the honorarium as stated in a PhilHealth letter covering the honoraria does not directly translate as entitlement for him to be among its recipients.
Even if Bacaltos pointed out in his motion for reconsideration that there was no notice of disallowance from the Commission on Audit (COA) against his receiving of the allowance, we have to wonder why he listed himself as a recipient when he could not prove that he did perform actual “health services” to his constituents as required by PhilHealth.
The amount is roughly what a middle-income employee would get in a month and is a paltry sum compared to the millions and even billions of pesos stolen by former elected and appointed officials, some of whom remain in jail and are undergoing trial like the senators linked to jailed businesswoman/alleged pork barrel profiteer Janet Lim Napoles.
But corruption usually starts off small, not big and extravagant, in order to escape public detection. In fact, corruption and larceny thrive because it is under the radar.
The perpetrators, like other criminals before them, prosper through anonymity — that is, meeting behind closed doors, away from the prying eyes of snoopy reporters or even ordinary citizens.
Then again, we recall some Cebu City officials, some former and others incumbent, who have chosen to reward themselves with a P20,000 calamity assistance back in 2013 even though there was no evidence that they sustained losses during the devastation caused by the earthquake and Super Typhoon Yolanda.
The case against Bacaltos will take some time, and it won’t stop other officials from claiming money due to some sense of misguided entitlement.
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