G.R. No. 164460 - OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSMAN, REPRESENTED BY HON. SIMEON V. MARCELO, VS. CARMENCITA D. CORONEL.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, premises considered, and in view of all the foregoing, the petition is GIVEN DUE COURSE. The Disapproval by [Petitioner] Ombudsman on the March 23, 200[1] [6] Order of Graft Investigation Officer I Grace H. Morales, granting the motion for reconsideration of [Respondent] Carmencita D. Coronel is ANNULLED and SET ASIDE for having been done with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction. Consequently, the March [7], 200[1] [7] Order of Graft Investigation Officer I Grace H. Morales exonerating [Respondent] Carmencita D. Coronel is hereby REINSTATED and AFFIRMED. " [8] The Facts According to the CA, the facts are as follows: "[Respondent] Carmencita D. Coronel is a Senior Accounting Processor B with Salary Grade 10 of the Linamon Water District, Lanao del Norte. On September 26, 1997, the Board of Directors of Linamon Water District, by virtue of Resolution No. 056[,] Series of 1997, designated [respondent] as Officer-in-Charge, effective October 1, 1997 until a General Manager shall have been appointed. "In the morning of October 14, 1998, [respondent] called for a meeting the officers of the different Water Districts in Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur, as well as their advisors from the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA). Since it was nearing lunchtime, the group opted to continue their meeting at Marvilla's Store at Barangay Bunu-un, Iligan City. The luncheon meeting, attended by more or less ten (10) persons, was presided over by Advisor Rhodora Gumban of the LWUA. As the host of the said meeting, [respondent] paid for the lunch in the amount of One Thousand Two [H]undred Thirteen [P]esos (P1,213.00), as shown in cash Invoice No. 0736 dated October 14, 1998. "On November 13, 1998, [respondent] claimed for reimbursement of her expenses covered by Voucher No. 98-11-23, chargeable against the representation and entertainment account of her office. That very same day, the voucher was approved and [respondent] got her reimbursement in the amount of One Thousand Two [H]undred Thirteen [P]esos (P1,213.00). "On November 17, 1998, Pedro C. Sausal, Jr. was appointed General Manager of Linamon Water District. On February 1999, he filed with the Office of the Ombudsman-Mindanao a sworn letter-complaint against herein [respondent] for dishonesty. The case was docketed as Case No. OMB-MIN-ADM 99-044. The complaint alleges that [respondent] falsified the cash invoice she submitted for reimbursement by making it appear that the luncheon bill was for One Thousand Two [H]undred Thirteen [P]esos (P1,213.00) when in fact, it was only Two [H]undred Thirteen [P]esos (P213.00), as reflected in the photocopy of the original duplicate of cash invoice No. 0736 dated October 14, 1998. "On November 27, 2000, Grace H. Morales, Graft Investigation Officer I of the OMB-Mindanao, Davao City, rendered a decision, approved by the then Ombudsman Aniano A. Desierto on December 29, 2000, the dispositive portion of which reads- 'WHER