GR 154239; (February, 2005) (Digest)
G.R. No. 154239-41; February 16, 2005
FELIX L. SARIGUMBA, SHERLITA R. GALLEGO, and EMMA C. DAGONDON, petitioners, vs. THE SANDIGANBAYAN, First Division, Respondent.
FACTS
Petitioners, Mayor Felix Sarigumba and municipal officers Sherlita Gallego and Emma Dagondon of Tudela, Misamis Occidental, were charged before the Sandiganbayan with Malversation of Public Funds and violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. The charges stemmed from the disbursement of ₱330,000 from Congressman Hilarion Ramiro, Jr.’s Countrywide Development Fund (CDF). Mayor Sarigumba secured a cash advance, liquidating it with vouchers stating the funds were for meals and snacks during peace and order meetings for barangay captains, which vouchers were approved by Gallego and Dagondon.
However, investigations revealed that the funds were distributed directly to barangay captains as cash gifts of ₱9,500 each, purportedly a personal promise from Congressman Ramiro. The barangay captains initially treated the money as personal gifts but later, upon audit, submitted fabricated receipts and attendance sheets to re-liquidate the amounts when questioned by the Commission on Audit (COA). Their sworn statements confirmed no such peace and order meetings took place and that the money was received and used for personal or barangay purposes unrelated to the stated official purpose.
ISSUE
Whether the Sandiganbayan committed grave abuse of discretion in denying the petitioners’ motion to dismiss the criminal cases.
RULING
The Supreme Court denied the petition, upholding the Sandiganbayan’s resolutions. The Court found no grave abuse of discretion, as the denial of a motion to dismiss is an interlocutory order not subject to certiorari unless such discretion is exercised whimsically or capriciously. The factual allegations, if proven, sufficiently constituted the elements of the crimes charged.
The legal logic is grounded in the prima facie evidence of misappropriation. Public funds from the CDF were released for a specific official purpose—peace and order meetings. The petitioners facilitated their disbursement and liquidation under false pretenses, as the money was diverted as cash gifts. The subsequent, coerced re-liquidation by the barangay captains does not absolve the initial fraudulent transaction; it merely confirms the irregularity. The approval of the falsified vouchers by petitioners Gallego and Dagondon implicated them in the scheme. The Sandiganbayan correctly determined that these allegations warranted a full trial to establish criminal liability, as the acts described—drawing cash advances for a fictitious purpose, falsifying documents to liquidate them, and causing undue injury to the government by misusing public funds—fall squarely within the ambit of the statutes under which the petitioners were charged.