Three more employees of the city government assigned at the city market as collectors of arrival fees or kuartais were charged with malversation with falsification of public documents and falsification by public officers.
Three employees who were sued earlier were included in the latest suit for additional counts of malversation and falsification of public documents.
The latest case was filed Sept. 16 before the Office of the City Prosecutor by City Market Division Officer-in-Charge Marieta C. Alvarez on behalf of the city government together with the Baguio City Police Office as investigators of the cases.
The malversation and falsification raps stemmed from the discovery of tampered with duplicate receipts on arrival fees collected from market merchants that further resulted to the uncovering of more falsified receipts involving more employees who are now respondents to the cases.
The report of Lt/Col. Pablo Emmanuel Nead, head of the Baguio City Police Office-Crime Investigation and Detection Management Unit, stated Alvarez discovered the tampering with of duplicate copies of receipts being committed by revenue collector clerks when they did not remit the exact amount being paid by merchants by declaring the wrong amount of payment on the duplicate copies of the official receipts.
Through the initiative of Mayor Benjamin Magalong, investigation and eventual filing of cases against its employees have been filed as early as July this year.
The mayor hopes to stop what he called “syndicated corruption” involving market employees and merchants leading to embezzlement of public funds. – Jessa Mardy P. Samidan
July 27, 2024
