A former Capitol executive who was once allegedly linked to a P7-million anti-poverty corruption scandal during the term of the late Gov. Erico Aumentado is again under fire after the Provincial Government ordered him to return P.4 million plus worth of properties entrusted to his possession. In a Sept. 10, 2013 letter to Antonieto “Boy” Pernia, copy of which was released to Bohol media, Provincial General Services Officer Edwin Vallejos has ordered the former head of the Bohol Poverty Reduction Management Office (BPRMO) to return to the government several equipment issued to him but remained unreturned up to these days. “Our records in this office would show that you received or were issued properties/equipment per Property Issue Slip (PIS) and/or Acknowledgement Receipt of Equipment signed by you, copies of which are hereto attached,” said Vallejos in his letter to Pernia, which was also noted by Provincial Administrator Alfonso “Ae” Damalerio II. “In this regard and to update our records and comply with auditing and inventory requirements, may we respectfully request you to inform our office on the status of said items and/or to effect turn-over of the properties/equipment through our office as soon as possible,” the letter to Pernia said.

Sought to react, Pernia lamented the fact why he was being singled out among former accountable officers serving previous Capitol administrations. He said like him these accountable officers have their own share of unreturned provincial properties. Some of them even have their own unliquidated cash advances, Pernia added. Listed as Pernia’s unreturned properties include two computer units with all their accessories, video camera, DVD player, Canon Camera Lens EOS 350D, Motherboard for Epson LQ2180 Printer, Laptop Batter Pack Li-ion EM 520P4G Lithium, Digital Audio Recorder/Player, hot and cold water dispenser, several flash drives and external hard disks, battery chargers, Wireless Lan Edimax USB adapter, HDD USH enclosure, Webcam Flexicam A4tech, and many others. A source at the Capitol who is investigating into the disappearance of government properties has hinted that Pernia could face civil and criminal charges if the properties remain unreturned “in as soonest time possible.”

In the letter of Vallejos addressed to Pernia, documents showed that the former Capitol executive signed all the inventory and acknowledgement receipts of all the properties ordered return by him. During the administration of Aumentado, Pernia was removed as BPRMO chief and was transferred to the Office of the Governor after Pernia was accused of financial mishandling in anti-poverty programs worth millions of pesos channeled through cooperatives in Bohol. In a 10-page report prepared by former Provincial Legal Officer Handel Lagunay, the lawyer noted several suspicious transactions entered into by the BPRMO in the conduct of trainings and consultancies for cooperatives. “BPRMO spent the funds as if it were discretionary, disregarding government auditing and accounting rules,” media reports had said. Coop farmers cried foul when they learned that they had been used as “dummies” in the alleged money-making activities of BPRMO. A fresh investigation of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) into BPRMO’s corruption scandal was interrupted by the 2013 elections. It was not known whether the Chatto-Lim administration would pursue a new investigation and file proper charges before the court in the interest of public justice.