Ombud indicts ex-town mayor

UNLIQUIDATED CASH ADVANCE

The Office of the Ombudsman indicted former San Remigio mayor Jay Olivar for failing to account for cash advances in 2011 worth P585,000.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales ordered the filing of four counts of Failure to Render Accounts, which is a violation of Article 218 of the Revised Penal Code, against Olivar at the Sandiganbayan on Monday.

According to the statement from the Ombudsman’s official website, the former mayor has received a total of P585,000 in cash advances in 2011 for various expenses for its anti-illegal drugs campaign, Christmas celebration, Suroy-Suroy Sugbo, and several supplies.

Olivar, in his counter-affidavit, said that he requested a job order employee to prepare the liquidation reports, but due to numerous pending tasks, he claimed that the JO did not get to complete the report after his term ended in 2013.

He also claimed that the local government of San Remigio, a town in northern Cebu, was busy handling their programs and projects especially after the onslaught of Super Typhoon Yolanda in 2013.

The Ombudsman said that Olivar’s failure to account for the P585,000 cash advances was a violation of the Commission on Audit Circular 97-002, mandating all petty operating expenses and field operating expenses shall be liquidated within 20 days after the end of the year the transaction was made.

“In this case, the 2011 cash advances were still reported to be outstanding as of June 30, 2015,” the Ombudsman added.

Any public official who will be found guilty of violating Article 218 of the Revised Penal Code by the Sandiganbayan may face criminal charges, and prescribed penalty is imprisonment for a minimum period of six months and one day up to two years and four months. The fine may range from P200 to P6,000.

Olivar served as San Remigio mayor from 2010 to 2013. He lost to the current Mayor Mariano Martinez in 2013 elections.