FORMER Bacolod City mayor Luzviminda Valdez and her staff, Brando Elegio, have failed to persuade the Sandiganbayan Sixth Division to reverse its decision issued on April 29, 2025 convicting them of seven counts of falsification of documents.
Associate Justices Sarah Jane T. Fernandez, Kevin Narce B. Vivero, and Karl B. Miranda affirmed their previous pronouncement that the accused were guilty of changing the amounts on cash slips or receipts to reflect bigger sums for reimbursement in 2004.
Valdez, as the claimant and payee of all the reimbursement checks, was presumed “material author of the falsification,” while Elegio, who requested the reimbursements using the falsified documents, was deemed equally guilty.
Prosecutors said the actual amount spent was only P2,091.60 but the reimbursed amount was P364,778.
In their motions for reconsideration, the two defendants denied authorship of the falsifications of cash slips.
They likewise insisted that they did not benefit from the said reimbursements or cause damage to the State or any third party.
The anti-graft court, however, said both accused failed to present “any plausible argument that would overturn the presumption that they were the ones who falsified or caused the falsification.”
“Accused Valdez and Elegio failed to explain how falsified documents found their way to the DVs (disbursement vouchers) that they prepared, approved, and submitted for reimbursement. Neither did they attempt to provide any reasonable explanation inconsistent with their guilt,” the court added.
It pointed out that without the fabricated cash slips, Valdez would not have received the reimbursements.
“Clearly, accused Valdez benefited from the preparation, use, and submission of the falsified cash slips. Significantly, …accused Valdez and Elegio did not raise any genuine question as to the authenticity of the original duplicate cash slips,” the Sandiganbayan noted.
