BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Four executives of the city government of Sipalay City in Negros Occidental were ordered by the Sandiganbayan to pay a fine for “frauds against the public treasury” in connection with a lease contract with a private firm in 2008.
In a in a three-page decision by Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang and promulgated on July 15, the court found former city treasurer Renato Manilla, budget officer Fernando Balbin, engineer Porferio Calderon Jr., and general services officer Elizer Balbin guilty and sentenced them to pay a fine of P40,000 each.
Two other accused, former mayor Soledad Montilla and executive assistant Alfredo Lim, have already passed away while the case remained pending.
Montilla and the other accused were originally charged with violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act No. 3019) on June 29, 2018 over a deal with the city government in 2008. They were accused of giving unwarranted benefits and preference to D.K. Jocson Construction.
On May 12, 2022, the court approved a plea-bargaining agreement between prosecutors and the accused where the latter agreed to withdraw their plea of “not guilty” to the graft charges and instead plead guilty to lesser charges./PN
