By the Bohol Standard
Malversation of funds is now eyed as the Capitol Special Probe Team deepens its investigation into the alleged misuse of money intended for cooperatives of poor farmers.
Funds amounting to P344,000 comprising the 10% deductions from financial assistance to 28 coops; P200,000 for a non-existing training project and another P2-million fund for federation of cooperatives in Eastern Bohol are being separately looked into.
A special panel was created by Gov. Erico B. Aumentado after the media exposed it based on a Commission on Audit report that said funds “were found illegally spent for other use outside its appropriated purposes.â€
This is a glaring “technical malversationâ€, a government accountant said.
Capitol first treated the COA findings as an internal matter but the story was leaked to the The Bohol STANDARD and was made public as an EXCLUSIVE headline story in its March 2, 2008 Sunday issue.
PROBE TEAM
The probe team headed by Provincial Legal Officer Handel Lagunay, with Provincial Accountant Joseth Celocia, Assistant Treasurer Primitiva Ontong, and Human Resource Development Officer Romeo Teruel met again in the morning of March 18, last Tuesday.
Its first preliminary hearing was conducted last March 7.
Sangguniang Panlalawigan board members Josephine Socorro Jumamoy (committee chair on cooperatives) and committee members former Alicia Mayor Bienvenido Molina and lawyer Aster Apalisok-Piollo attended in that Tuesday hearing.
Four vital witnesses were presented in the Tuesday hearing; and three of them said “all the money transactions in the Bohol Poverty Reduction Management Office had the knowledge of office chief Antonietto ‘Boy†Pernia.â€
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