Technical malversation - sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2012/november2012/192330.pdf

see  -  sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2012/november2012/192330.pdf

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The crime of technical malversation as penalized under Article 220 of the Revised Penal Code  has three elements: a) that the offender is an accountable public officer; b) that he applies public funds or property under
his administration to some public use; and c) that the public use for which such funds or property were applied is different from the purpose for which they were originally appropriated by law or ordinance.

  Ysidoro claims that he could not be held liable for the offense under its third element because the four sacks of rice and two boxes of sardines he gave the CSAP beneficiaries were not appropriated by law or ordinance for a specific purpose.   But the evidence shows that on November 8, 2000 the Sangguniang Bayan of Leyte enacted Resolution 00-133 appropriating the annual general fund for 2001.

  This appropriation was based on the executive budget which covers the CSAP housing projects.

  The creation of the two items shows the Sanggunian’s intention to appropriate separate funds for SFP and the CSAP in the annual budget.  Since the municipality bought the subject goods using SFP funds, then
those goods should be used for SFP’s needs, observing the rules prescribed for identifying the qualified beneficiaries of its feeding programs.  The target clientele of the SFP according to its manual are: 1) the moderately and severely underweight pre-school children aged 36 months to 72 months; and 2) the families of six members whose total monthly income is P3,675.00 and below.

  This rule provides assurance that the SFP would cater only to the malnourished among its people who are in urgent need of the government’s limited resources.  Ysidoro disregarded the guidelines when he approved the distribution of the goods to those providing free labor for the rebuilding of their own homes.  This is technical malversation.  If Ysidoro could not legally distribute the construction materials appropriated for the CSAP housing beneficiaries to the SFP malnourished clients neither could he distribute the food intended for the latter to CSAP beneficiaries.

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