Former Cortes town mayor convicted

The Sandiganbayan has sentenced former Cortes, Bohol Mayor Apolinaria Balistoy of up to 48 years behind bars anew and this time, it was over fake training reimbursements.

Balistoy's conviction follows the Anti-Graft Court ruling which found her guilty of one count each of graft and falsification of public documents and five counts of malversation of public funds through falsification of public documents.

On top of jail time, she was also barred from holding any public office and was ordered to indemnify the Cortes municipal government P105,000, the amount believed lost to malversation, at six percent interest.

Corruption raps against Balistoy stemmed from her usage of falsified and dubious official receipts and certificates of attendance to secure reimbursement of expenses amounting to P105,000 for purported training in 2010.

The Ombudsman sued Balistoy before the Sandiganbayan in 2017, one year after it ordered her dismissal from the service.

Court records showed that Balistoy used falsified receipts to justify her claim for reimbursement from the municipal government for the expenses she supposedly incurred when she attended training on local environmental governance and barangay e-agri with her son in August and October of 2010, respectively.