G.R. No. 95627; August 16, 1991
EDWIN B. VILLANUEVA, petitioner, vs. HON. SANDIGANBAYAN and the PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, respondents.

FACTS

Edwin B. Villanueva, a Grains Stock Control Officer for the National Food Authority (NFA), was charged with malversation of 570 bags of rice valued at P103,734.14. The prosecution established that the rice, covered by Warehouse Stock Receipts (WSRs) Nos. 137290-92 from the NSDC Warehouse, was shipped to Bacolod City by contractor Reynaldo Badayos. Subsequently, these WSRs were improperly cancelled and the same stocks were recorded anew under different WSRs for the Barredo Warehouse, creating an apparent shortage. An audit initially held Badayos accountable, but a re-audit, prompted by Badayos’s protest, revealed that the original WSRs were never legitimately cancelled. The Commission on Audit ultimately credited the stocks to Badayos and held Villanueva accountable for the shortage.

ISSUE

Whether the Sandiganbayan correctly convicted petitioner Edwin B. Villanueva of malversation of public property.

RULING

Yes, the Supreme Court affirmed the conviction. The legal logic rests on the prima facie presumption of malversation under Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code when a public officer fails to account for public property upon demand. As the accountable officer in complete control of the warehouses, Villanueva bore the responsibility for the shortage. His defense of mere documentation error, allegedly caused by milling supervisor Eduardo Berebe, was deemed a self-serving assertion unsupported by evidence and was contradicted by his own certifications admitting receipt of the stocks. The Court ruled that the unexplained shortage, coupled with his failure to provide a satisfactory justification, sufficiently established his guilt. The mitigating circumstance of voluntary surrender was duly appreciated in the imposition of the penalty.