By JEN BAYLON

The Sandiganbayan’s 6th Division has convicted former Bacolod City Mayor Luzviminda “Joy” Valdez and her assistant, Brendo Eligio, on seven counts of falsification of public documents for systematically altering cash slips to inflate reimbursement claims.

The court ruled that Valdez and Eligio manipulated seven cash slips to overstate expenses, enabling the former city mayor to fraudulently claim P364,778 in reimbursements instead of the legitimate P2,000, siphoning hundreds of thousands of pesos from public funds.

Each count carries a minimum sentence of two years and a maximum of six years, totaling up to 42 years in prison.

The defendants were granted bail at P35,000 each.

Three co-accused — city management and audit service chief Ricardo Dahildahil Jr., former city accountant Eduardo Ravena, and clerk Lalaine Villalva — were acquitted due to insufficient evidence linking them to the scheme.

The 2012 charges stemmed from a post-audit revealing falsified slips from 2004.

Prosecutors asserted Valdez orchestrated the overclaims to misuse public funds.

While the court’s 114-page decision focused strictly on falsification, it highlighted deliberate document tampering to justify fraudulent reimbursements.

This conviction follows a 2022 order for Valdez to repay P274,306 in excess reimbursements after her acquittal on malversation and graft charges, underscoring persistent accountability gaps in local governance./JB, WDJ