Captain Bernabe Sibug of Brgy. 7, Bacolod City, who was arrested for four counts of falsification of public documents and also for graft and corruption Thursday, was released on bail at about 1:30 p.m. yesterday.

Station 2 chief, Senior Insp. Robert Dejucos, said Regional Trial Court Branch 49 Judge Manuel Cardinal ordered the release of Sibug after he paid P120,000 in bail.

Regional Trial Court Judge Franklin Demonteverde, who issued the arrest warrant against Sibug, originally set his bail at P24,000 for each count of falsification of public documents, and P30,000 each for graft and corruption charges but Sibug filed a motion to reduce bail, police records showed.

Supt. Santiago Rapiz, head of the Bacolod City Police Special Operations Task Group, said they are also looking for Brgy. 7 Sangguniang Kabataan chairman John Mark Base, who also has a warrant of arrest for four counts of falsification of public documents and four counts of graft and corruption.

Rapiz however, said, they failed to arrest Base as he has not gone home since Thursday.

Six SK members filed the charges against Sibug, Base and another official of Brgy. 7 in November 2009 before the Office of the Ombudsman Visayas in relation to the approval of the SK annual budget for that year of P180, 221.

The complainants claimed that their signatures appearing on the resolution approving the annual budget were forged and that when they investigated, they found out that several SK resolutions had also been falsified, and disbursements had been made for 2008.

Sibug claimed that the charges filed against them were politically motivated and that he signed the documents in the belief that they were what they were purported to be, relying on the presumption of regularity on the part of the SK.

He also said the SK had, indeed, conducted sessions on the days indicated in the allegedly false resolutions, and that they accurately represented what they purported to be.

Overall Deputy Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro ordered in August 3, 2011 the filing of four counts of falsification of public documents and four counts of graft and corruption against Sibug and Base after finding probable cause.*APN

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