A public school principal from Virac, Catanduanes, is facing jail time for submitting tampered receipts to jack up expenses and cover up unaccounted for public funds earlier released to her as cash assistance.
Anchelita Sicio, former principal of Taytay Elementary School in Virac, failed to persuade the Sandiganbayan to reverse its decision on February 12, 2025 affirming her conviction by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Virac, Catanduanes for malversation of public funds and falsification of public documents.
Sicio was sentenced to imprisonment of four months to three years and six months in the malversation case and a P5,000 fine, P5,000 as civil liability, and perpetual disqualification from holding a government post.
In the falsification case, the accused was sentenced to six months to eight years imprisonment with a P3,000 fine.
Graft investigators found that the accused had unliquidated financial assistance totaling P7,000 from the Catanduanes vice governor’s office, which surfaced because release of a second cash assistance for P1,500 was made conditional upon liquidation of the previous fund release.
The support documents submitted in the liquidation, however, raised red flags after discrepancies in the receipts were discovered.
Businessman Gary Sarmiento, owner of YKKY Merchandise, testified that he only delivered P2,000 worth of bags of cement at P250 each but noted that the figure on the receipt he issued was changed to P7,000.
The “8” bags of cement became 28 while the payment was falsified to change P2,000 to P7,000.
In her motion for reconsideration, Sicio insisted that she knew nothing about the doctored receipts and pointed to the seller as the one who possessed the duplicate originals.
The defense said the former school principal should be acquitted on reasonable doubt.
In denying the defendant’s motion, the anti-graft court said it found no error of law or fact that would warrant a reconsideration.
“Accused appellant’s conviction is not based on her failure to rebut the charge. Rather, her conviction stemmed from overwhelming evidence established by the prosecution that warranted a conviction sufficient to overtake her constitutional right to be presumed innocent,” the Sandiganbayan said.
It said the “unmistakably tampered” receipts were not explained, nor the “illogical sequence” of the receipts.
“The facts proven undoubtedly formed clear badges of fraud to which the court cannot turn a blind eye; the court’s disposition of which remains unchanged despite the accused-appellant’s attempt to convince otherwise,” the court said.
