Former Bacolod City mayor Luzviminda Valdez and her assistant were sentenced to up to 42 years in prison after being found guilty by the Sandiganbayan of doctoring cash slips to overstate P2,091 in reimbursement claims to P364,778 in 2004.
In a 114-page decision handed down on 29 April, the anti-graft court’s Sixth Division found Valdez and her secretary, Brendo Eligio, guilty of defrauding the government through altering cash slips and official receipts to bloat reimbursements, primarily for food expenses related to various events of the provincial government.
They were indicted on seven counts of falsification of private documents, with a jail term of up to six years and a fine of P5,000 for each count.
The prosecution said Valdez reimbursed P364,778 despite having incurred an actual expense of only P2,091, resulting in the overclaim of P362,686.
The case stemmed from an audit report flagging discrepancies in the transactions of the LGU. Auditors said that of the 10 receipts and cash slips submitted by Valdez for her reimbursement claims, eight were tampered with, resulting in the loss of P362,686.40 to the Bacolod City government.
The court showed a set of evidence that Valdez deliberately tampered with the receipts, including one instance where she added the word “meals” to one of the slips to make it appear that she paid P19,000 when the original expense was only P192.
Another slip from the same food establishment, with an original amount of just P374.60, was also doctored to come up with a receipt of P100,432, which accounted for the biggest chunk of the reimbursed funds.
“The insertions changed the meaning of the document and made the document speak of something false,” the ruling read. “The cash slips as reproduced above clearly establish the allegations in the information that there were alterations in the original of cash slip[s].”
Valdez and Eligio were charged with malversation and falsification alongside Management and Audit Service Office chief Ricardo Dahildahil Jr., former city accountant Eduardo Ravena, and clerk Lalaine Villalva.
Though the court noted that there is no direct evidence pointing to any of the accused having personally falsified the cash slips, Valdez — being the claimant and payee of the checks — was presumed the “material author of the falsification.”
Eligio, who requested the reimbursements using the falsified cash slips, was also found equally guilty as Valdez.
The court cleared Dahildahil, Ravena, and Villalva of all charges, with Valdez and Eligio also absolved of malversation because it was not established that they indeed misappropriated the amounts reimbursed.
“Even when this court concluded that the cash slips used as supporting documents were falsified, the court cannot declare that such falsification conclusively established that the funds received by accused Valdez were misappropriated,” the decision reads.“While malversation may be committed through falsification, it does not necessarily follow that the falsification proven resulted in the malversation of public funds,” it added.