The Isabela municipal government is planning to file criminal charges against the dismissed acting treasurer of the town for malversation of public funds, Mayor Irene Montilla said Wednesday, May 10.
Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson on Monday dismissed Nenette M. Escarda from the service for grave misconduct, serious dishonesty and malversation of public funds belonging to Isabela amounting to P6.4 million.
Montilla said Provincial Legal Officer Alberto Nellas Jr. suggested that the municipality file criminal charges against Escarda “because that is the only way she will be held liable and accountable for all the cash and checks that had gone missing while she was in possession of them”.
He recommended that the Isabela municipal government file criminal charges for malversation of public funds, Nellas said.
Lacson dismissed Escarda from the service for the unauthorized removal of P2,600,000 in cash and P3,800,000 in checks totaling P6.4 million from the Municipal Treasurer’s Office of Isabela in January, which she claimed were then stolen from her house.
Montilla said they have not recovered any of the P2.6 million in cash, but have retrieved the majority of the funds covered by checks.
They have recovered about P3.1 million of the P3.8 million in checks, she said.
Some payees reissued their checks, but the municipality has had difficulty tracing who issued the others because there are no receipt numbers and names on record, she said.
The amounts were recovered because the missing checks were issued in the name of the municipality and could not ben encashed, she said.
The Commission on Audit also reported irregularities in the cash accountability of Escarda as acting treasurer of Isabela. It said collections totaling P6,629,146 remained undeposited as of Jan. 20, 2023, and cash advances of P972,000 were unliquidated as of cut-off date.
Montilla said they are still investigating where that money went.
The mayor said the governor’s dismissal of Escarda from the service is a fair decision and was all evidenced based.*