Villacorta v. People Of The Philippines

MELENCIO-HERRERA, J.:

Elevated to this Court on certiorari is the Amended Decision of the Sandiganbayan convicting petitioner, Felix Villacorta, of Malversation of Public Funds (Criminal Case No. 4212).ℒαwρhi৷ We resolved to give due course and required the parties to file their respective Briefs, which they have done. Petitioner became the Municipal Treasurer of Pandan, Catanduanes, in August, 1975. As a result of an audit in 1978 by the Commission on Audit of his cash accountability showing a total shortage of P71,930.35, he was charged with Malversation of Public Funds on September 9, 1981 before respondent Sandiganbayan, allegedly committed as follows: That on or about the period comprised between August 1 to August 29, 1978 inclusive or within said dates in the Municipality of Pandan, Province of Catanduanes, Philippines and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused while being the incumbent Municipal Treasurer of Pandan, Catanduanes and while acting as such and under the obligation to account for all the funds or property that came into his official position and abusing and taking advantage of his official position, with intent of gain and personal benefit, did then and there, wilfully, unlawfully and feloniously malverse, take and appropriate for his own personal use and benefit and permitted other persons thru his consent to take public funds in his custody in the total amount of SEVENTY ONE THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED THIRTY PESOS and 35/100 CENTAVOS (P71,930.35) in Philippine Currency, thereby rnisappropriating, taking and malversing Government Funds, to the damage and prejudice of the government in the aforementioned amount.1 After trial, the Sandiganbayan found petitioner liable only for P30,995.94 and convicted him in a judgment, the decretal portion of which reads:

WHEREFORE, the Court finds and declares the accused, Felix Villacorta, guilty beyond reasonable doubt, as principal of the crime of Malversation of Public Funds defined and penalized under Article 217, paragraph 4, and there being neither aggravating nor mitigating circumstances to consider, he is hereby sentenced to suffer an indeterminate penalty ranging from TEN (10) YEARS and ONE (1) DAY of prision mayor, as minimum, to SEVENTEEN (17) YEARS, FOUR (4) MONTHS and ONE (1) DAY of reclusion temporal, as maximum, suffer perpetual special disqualification, pay a fine of P30,995.94, indemnify the Municipality of Pandan, Catanduanes in the same amount and pay the costs.2 Acting on petitioner's Motion for Reconsideration on the ground that the amount of P30,995.94, for which he was found liable had been restituted, the Sandiganbayan rendered an Amended Decision, disposing: WHEREFORE, for the reasons set forth above, the "Motion for Reconsideration" is denied. However, appreciating two mitigating circumstances, voluntary surrender and full restitution of the amount, the penalty imposed on him in the original decision is hereby amended so that the above-named accused is instead sentenced to suffer an indeterminate penalty ranging from Six (6) Years, One (1) Month and Eleven (11) Days of prision mayor as minimum to Twelve (12) Years, Five (5) Months and Eleven (11) Days as maximum, suffer perpetual disqualification, pay a fine of P30,995.94, and pay the costs.3 In this Petition for Certiorari, petitioner prays for acquittal. The Audit Report described the shortage in petitioner's cash and accounts as follows: "FINDINGS AND OBSERVATIONS 1. Mr. Felix Villacorta was found short by P71,930.35 in his cash accountability. Our examination of the cash and accounts of Mr. Felix Villacorta on August 29, 1978 revealed a shortage of P71,930.35 which was arrived at as follows: F U N D S Local Trust Infra SEF Total Cashbook balance August 1, 1978 P25,173.98 P12,661.92 P72,794.52 P2,243.63 P112,874.05 Add: Collections August 1-29/78 26,478.83