11 v. Buyucan

EN BANC July 11, 2017 A.M. No. MTJ-15-1854 [Formerly A.M No.144-50-MCTQ] OFFICE OF THE COURT ADMINISTRATOR, Complainant vs. PRESIDING JUDGE BILL D. BUYUCAN and CLERK OF COURT GERARD N. LINDA WAN, both at Municipal Circuit Trial Court, Bagabag-Diadi, Nueva Vizcaya , Respondents PER CURIAM: This administrative case stemmed from the Financial Audit conducted on September 10, 2013, by the Financial Monitoring Division (FMD), Court Management Office (CMO), Office of the Court Administrator (OAS), in the Municipal Circuit Trial Court of Bagabag-Diadi, Nueva Vizcaya (MCTC). The Antecedents The audit was prompted by an anonymous Letter-Complaint1 from the auditors of the Commission on Audit, Nueva Vizcaya (COA), who audited the cash and accounts of Gerard N. Lindawan (Lindawan), Clerk of Court II, MCTC, for the years 2009 and 2010. Allegedly, Lindawan failed to present four (4) booklets of official receipts with series numbers 7654801-7654850, 7654851-7654900, 7654901-7654950, and 7654951-7655000 despite several requests to submit the same.

Acting thereon, an audit was conducted covering the financial transactions of Pio M. Valdez (Valdez), Court Interpreter and Officer-in-Charge of MCTC from January 1, 2007 to January 31, 2008, and Lindawan from February 1, 2008 to August 21, 2013. The Report2 of the audit team disclosed the following: I. For the CASH EXAMINATION CONDUCTED: At the start of the audit, the team found out that no remittances were made starting August 2012 for the Judiciary Development Fund (JDF) and Special Allowance for the Judiciary Fund (SAJ), and starting May 2011 for the Mediation Fund (MF). Also, official cashbooks were not updated and monthly reports were not submitted starting August 2012.

Proceeding from the cash examination, the team made an inventory of the cash on hand and compared it with the unremitted collections from 1 to 12 September 2013. It disclosed an unremitted cash in the amount of Twelve Thousand Pesos (₱12,000.00) representing the unreceipted cash bond in Criminal Case No. 5903. As evidence, an unsigned Bail Bond Undertaking dated 9 September 2013 was detached from the records of the case.

The total unremitted collections are presented below with its corresponding period and the cash on hand, to wit: Fund Period Covered OR Nos. Amount FF Sept 9, 2013 Unreceipted ₱12,000.00 SAJF Sept 1-11, 2013 0249356-0249386 2,500.00 TOTAL ₱14,500.00 CASH PRESENTED DURING THE CASH COUNT: DENOMINATION No.of PCS. AMOUNT BILLS 500.00 4 2,000.00 100.00 3 300.00 50.00 4 200.00 2,500.00 BALANCE OF ACCOUNTABILITY /SHORTAGE ₱12,000.00 Mr. Lindawan incurred an initial cash shortage of Twelve Thousand Pesos (₱12,000.00) as a result of the cash count conducted. Mr. Lindawan deposited the cash on hand to the respective accounts and restituted the cash shortage on 13 September 2013.

II. For the INVENTORY OF OFFICIAL RECEIPTS: The inventory of the accountable forms disclosed that four (4) booklets of official receipts were unaccounted/missing. The missing ORs were issued on 6 July 2007 per record of the Property Division, Office of the Court Administrator (OCA).

This confirmed that the COA indeed conducted an audit in 2009 and 2010 and their audit findings on the cash and accounts of Mr. Lindawan. When requested to present the missing booklets, Mr. Lindawan blamed the COA auditors that they got the official receipts during the audit and never returned it back. When asked to produce the transmittal of documents received by the COA auditors, Mr. Lindawan cannot provide any proof.

Aside from the missing booklets, forty-two (42) booklets of official receipts used for the JDF and SAJF from April 2011 up to July 2012 were not presented though they were posted in the cashbooks and monthly reports. The inventory conducted on the official receipts disclosed the following unused OR as of 10 September 2013: SERIAL NUMBERS REMARKS/QUANTITY 7654801 - 7654850 Missing 7654851- 7654900 Missing 7654901 - 7654950 Missing 7654951 - 7655000 Missing 6661901 - 6662000 2 booklets 0248901 - 0249000 2 booklets 0249401 - 0249900 10 booklets 0249951 - 0250000 1 booklet 0249387 - 0249400 14 pieces 6661879 - 6661900 22 pieces 0249907 - 0249950 44 pieces TOTAL 15 booklets & 80 pieces III. For the FIDUCIARY FUND: After examining and verifying evidential records, the total accountabilities amounted to Nine Hundred Thirty-Nine Thousand Pesos (₱939,000.00 ), which was partially restituted on 13 September 2013 amounting to ₱80,000.00.

Thus, the net shortage amounted to Eight Hundred Fifty-Nine Thousand Pesos (₱859,000.00) computed as follows: Beginning Balance (as of 12/31/06) ₱500,710.00 Total Collections (1/1/07 to 8/31/13) 2,989,200.00 Total Collections available for withdrawal