By CZARINA NICOLE ONG-KI
Iriga City, Camarines Sur Mayor Madelaine Alfelor and several local officials have been slapped with criminal and administrative raps before the Office of the Ombudsman due to an alleged P2.78-million ghost scholarship program in 2018.
Alfelor is facing raps for violation of Section 3(e) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code, otherwise known as Malversation of Public Funds, together with City Treasurer Jean Bongon, City Budget Officer Beverly Espiritu, City Accountant Fanny Turiano, and Mirah Nacario.
The complaint was filed last Dec. 7 by Diego Magpantay of the Citizens Crime Watch (CCW). He said that the MAG Scholarship Program of the city is nothing but a “ghost scholarship program” because the only recipient for calendar year 2018, Nacario, is employed under Bongon.
“The payee of the checks, Mirah Nacario, is an employee of the City Government of Iriga, delegated to work at the Office of the City Treasurer. She is no longer of schooling age, is gainfully employed, and there is not a trace of evidence which would show that she applied for the scholarship and eventually qualified for the same,” the CCW said in the complaint.
Magpantay said that it is the city mayor who has the discretion to decide who among the applicants are qualified under the scholarship program. But in 2018, only Nacario was the recipient in the amount of P2,788,378.47.
On March 4, 2018, a check amounting to P1,065,023.51 was disbursed to Nacario, and on Oct. 3, a check for P1,723,355.23 was given to her. “How is it possible that only one person – Mirah Nacario – is the recipient of the scholarship program in the outrageous amount of P2,788,378.74?” he said.
The complaint stressed that there was no existing screening or examination committee that evaluates or screens the applicants for the scholarship program or prepares the qualifying examination of the students.
Magpantay added that the payments were made without duly approved guidelines and established criteria. There was no assessment or matriculation of the student beneficiary showing that the subjects currently enrolled in and the total assessment for the semester.
“In this case, this ghost scholarship program tarnishes the image and integrity of the respondents’ offices,” the CCW said.
