REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINESSANDIGANBAYAN

QUEZON CITY

THIRD DIVISION

PEOPLE OFPHILIPPINES,

THE CRIM CASE NO. SB-18-CRM-0384

Plaintiff,

- versus-

For: Failure of AccountableOfficer to Render Accounts(Art.218, RPC)

DANILOBANTUGAN,

APDUHAN

Accused.

Present:CABOTAJE-TANG, P.J.,Chairperson,FERNANDEZ, B. J. andFERNANDEZ, SJ., J.1

Promulgated on:

\..lAN~ ?Lt I 'Jp 1 c;,x -----------------------------------------'-------------------------------------.pf.-" -x- _

RESOLUTIONCABOTAJE-TANG, P.J.:

For resolution is the JOINT MANIFESTATICV and MOTIONdated November 12,2018, of the prosecution and accused Danilo A.Bantugan.?

The parties jointly aver in the aforesaid motion that during thescheduled pre-trial on October 26, 2018, accused Bantuganmanifested his willingness to withdraw his previous plea of notguilty" on the condition that the penalty to be imposed upon himwould only be a fine considering that he has already settled hisunliquidated cash advance~ .

rder No. 262'201~~0' 20182 pp. 336- 369, Vo!. J, Record3 Accused Bantugan was arraigned on September 27,2018 where he pleaded Not

Guilty; p. 306, Vo!. I, Recordpp. 1-3, Joint Manifestation and Motion; pp. 336-338, Vol. J, Record4

RESOLUTIONPeople vs. 8ANTUGANS8-18-CRM-0384x----------------------------------------------------x

- 2 -

In the same motion, the prosecution confirms that theaccused-movant's unliquidated cash advances totaling OneHundred Fourteen Thousand Six Hundred Seventy Two Pesos(Pl14,672.00), had been cleared.f In support thereof, it attachedcopies of the subsidiary ledgers of the City Government ofTagbilaran which show the application of the accused-movant'scontract fee as consultant to his unliquidated cash advanoes.v

Based on the said ledgers, the unliquidated cash advances ofthe accused-movant was reduced to P24,868.807 as of January 1,2012. This amount had likewise been settled by the accused asevidenced by Official Receipts dated August 20, 2018 and October24, 2018, issued by Corazon 8. Antonio, Collecting Officer of theOfficeof the Treasurer, Tagbilaran City.f The parties also submitteda copy of the Certification dated October 17, 2018, issued by ActingCity Treasurer Virginia O. Manilimotan, that the accused-movanthas been cleared frpm.i~y fj.n.MciqJ, Iiability with the CityGovernment ofTagbilprfUl.~~:I.

In view of the aforesaid considerations, the prosecutionmanifested its acceptance to the proposal of the accused-movant to.plead guilty to the 'offense charged and its conformity to the latter'srequest that only a penalty of fine shall be imposed upon him. ID

THE COURT'S RU~ING

At the outset, the Court sees no reason to deny the presentmotion or to prohibit the accused from pleading guilty to the crimecharged as the same would necessarily result in the immediatedisposition of the case and the conservation of scarce prosecutorialand judicial resources. However, the Court must first satisfy itselfthat the accused had indeed· settled his unliquidated cashadvan~ .

-~~45 par. 11, p. 3, Joint Manifestation. and Moti~~; p. 338, Vol. I, Record6 Annexes "A"and "8", Joint Manifestation and Motion; pp. 342-366, Vol. I, Record7 P19,121 from the Special Education Fund and P5,747.80 from the GeneralFund8 Annexes "C" and "0", Joint Manifestation and Motion; pp. 367-368, VoT.I,Record9 Annex "E", Joint Manifestation and Motion; p. 369, Vol. I, Record10 Par 13, Joint Manifestation and Motion; p. 338, Vol. I, Record

RESOLUTIONPeople vs. BANTUGANSB-18-CRM-0384x---------------------------------------~------------x

- 3 -

The Court has meticulously examined the re .ords and notesthat the aforementioned Certification dated October 17, 2018,issued by the Acting City Treasurer, 11 which states that theaccused-movant "has been cleared from any financial liability withthe City Government of Tagbilaran", only refers to O.R. No.0553354 dated August 20, 2018, or the accused-movant's return ofthe cash advances taken under the Special Education Fund.Notably, the accused-movant still returned the amount of FiveThousand Seven Hundred Forty Seven pesos and Eighty Centavos(P5,747.80), representing the alleged outstanding balance of hiscash advances taken from the General Fund, on October 24, 2018,or several days after the said certification was issued. 12

The Court must therefore view the veracity of the saidcertification with caution considering that the rnatter certifiedtherein is directly contradicted by the accused's own actions.Moreover, the Court is constrained to be circumspect as regards theactual outstanding balance of the accused's cash advances takenfrom the General Fund as they constitute a big chtmkt-' of thealleged unliquidated cash advances of the accused.

Although the entries in the subsidiary ledgers attached to thepresent motion tend to corroborate the accused's cla that hemade arrangements that his honorarium, as a consultant to the citygovernment, be applied to his unliquidated cash advances, theCourt is of the opinion that the submitted ledgers, alone, areinsufficient to establish the amount of the accused's actual liability,and the settlement thereof, absent a more categc ..,r·l certificationfrom the concerned city officials.

Accordingly, the Court defers' its resolution of the presentmotion until certifications from both the Accounting and TreasuryOffices of Tagbilaran City that the accused no longer has anyfinancial liability with regard to his unliquidated cash advancesfrom the General Fund and Special Education Fund are submittedto the Court.

WH~REFORE, the Court NOTES the Joint Manifestation filedby the prosecution and the accus~

" Virginia O. Manguilimotan !D12 O.R. No. 1581686, Annex "A";p. 368, Record, Vol. I13 P99,551.00 out of PI14,672.00

Cl

RESOLUTIONPeople vs. BANTUGANSB-18-CRM-0384

-4 -

x----------------------------------------------------x

Accused Danilo A. Bantugan is Dl~CTED to submit to theCourt certifications from both the Accounting and Treasury Officesof Tagbilaran City that he no longer has any financial liability withregard to his unliquidated cash advances from the General Fundand Special Education Fund, which are the subject of the presentcase, within ten (10) days from notice hereof. Pending submissionthereof, the Court hereby DEF~RS action on the Joint Motion filedby the parties.

so ORD~REP~

Quezon City, Metro Manila

...•..;.

~~4R=~~T~.~Chairperson

WE CONCUR:/