El Pueblo de Filipinas v. Velasquez

Summary

This Supreme Court case involved Santiago S. Velasquez, an auxiliary cashier in Pangasinan provincial treasury, charged with malversation of public funds totaling P1,701.26. The funds belonged to Red Cross, Anti-Tuberculosis, and Boy Scouts organizations and were received from various municipal treasuries. When auditors discovered the deficit in December 1938, Velasquez could not account for the missing money. The Court applied Article 609 of the Revised Administrative Code, establishing that funds received by public officers in their official capacity become public funds regardless of their original source. The conviction was confirmed but the penalty was reduced to its minimum degree due to voluntary restitution as a mitigating circumstance. The case reinforced the principle that public officers are strictly accountable for all funds received in their official capacity.