ILOILO City – After one year and six months of hospital arrest, convicted former mayor Frankie Locsin of Janiuay, Iloilo is finally serving his 10-year prison sentence at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntilupa City.
The Sandiganbayan’s First Division convicted Locsin for violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act in 2015. The decision was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2019.
Yesterday at around 10:30 a.m., Locsin was flown to the national penitentiary escorted by Major Engelbert Banquillo, chief of the Molo police station.
Locsin was meted to suffer imprisonment for up to a decade. He was also perpetually disqualified from holding public office.
At around 3:30 p.m. yesterday, Locsin was remitted to the NBP.
According to Lieutenant Colonel Joem Malong, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6), they received a commitment order from the court on Nov. 4, 2019 yet but it took them several months to effect Locsin’s transfer to the NBP because not only did the former town chief executive file a counter-appeal, there were also “extraordinary” requirements for Locsin’s transfer due to the coronavirus disease pandemic.
Since June 2019 when Locsin was arrested up to yesterday morning, the convicted mayor was confined at The Medical City in Molo.
“He will be attended by the medical staff of the BuCor (Bureau of Corrections),” Malong said.
It was on June 3, 2019 when the former Janiuay mayor was arrested by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Region 6.
At that time, Locsin had gone to the NBI regional office at Fort San Pedro, Iloilo City intending to get a clearance for his gun license application. Following a check of his records, he was instead served a warrant of arrest from the Sandiganbayan First Division.
Locsin’s blood pressure shot up so he was initially taken to the Western Visayas Medical Center in Mandurriao district.
At his family’s request, Locsin was transferred to The Medical City.
According to NBI-6 executive officer Ramilo Quinto, Locsin had hypertensive cardiovascular disease concurrent with a bout of community-acquired pneumonia so it was decided that his condition would have to be stabilized first before he was transported to Manila.
Just days before the May 13, 2019 midterm elections it was reported that Locsin failed to secure a favorable ruling from the Supreme Court where he appealed his February 2015 Sandiganbayan conviction for graft.
The Sandiganbayan found him and five others guilty beyond reasonable doubt of violating Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act or Republic.
Locsin won the race for mayor in Janiuay in 2019 but never got to serve because of his conviction and arrest.
CASE BACKGROUND
His graft case stemmed from medicine purchases of the local government of Janiuay using P15 million from Sen. Vicente Sotto’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) way back in 2001.
The medical supply contract was awarded to a supplier whose accreditation was suspended by the Department of Health (DOH) thus making it supposedly unqualified to join the bidding.
Aside from Locsin, the Sandiganbayan First Division also convicted Accountant Carlos Moreno Jr., Budget Officer Ramon Tirador, Treasurer Luzviminda Figueroa, Ricardo Minurtio, and businessman Rodrigo Villanueva.
The Office of the Ombudsman investigated the medicine purchases. There was supposedly a bidding on Jan. 15, 2001, with three participants – AM Europharma Corp., Mallix Drug Center and Philpharmawealth Corp.
Philpharmawealth, however, denied participating in such a bidding.
The Ombudsman also took note of the apparent haste in the process. A P1.7-million purchase contract was awarded to Mallix Drug Center while AM Europharma was awarded with a P13.1-million contract.
Locsin approved the contracts, the Ombudsman said, and the medicines were immediately delivered the following day, Jan. 16, 2001.
On Jan. 17, 2001, the purchases were fully paid after inspection by Supply Officer II Gabriel Billena.
The Ombudsman further discovered that the heads of the AM Europharma Corp. and Mallix Drug Center were one and the same – Rod D. Villanueva, further raising questions on the propriety of the transaction.
According to the Ombudsman, Villanueva was the sole proprietor of Mallix Drug Center and also the general manager and president of AM-Europharma.
“The Court finds…conspiracy between accused public officials (and) members of the municipal Committee on Awards of Janiuay…as shown by their respective signatures in the Minutes of Meetings which awarded the subject procurement of medicines in favor of AM Europharma and Mallix Drug which gave undue advantage to accused Rodrigo Villanueva, owner and proprietor of said companies,” part of the anti-graft court’s decision read.
The 34-page Sandiganbayan decision dated Feb. 23, 2015 was penned by Associate Justice Rodolfo Ponferrada and concurred by First Division Chairman Efren dela Cruz and Associate Justice Rafael Lagos.
The Sandiganbayan further stated that “there was unanimity of purpose and intent on the part of said accused officials to consummate the said procurement in favor of Villanueva as shown by the haste that attended the delivery of the medicines and the speed with which the payments for the said medicines were made “and even without the latter or his companies posting the required 10 percent performance bond, knowing fully well that there was a failed bidding because of AM Europharma’s DOH suspended supplier’s accreditation, that the government was not able to secure the lowest possible price for the said bidders…”
At the time of the transaction Locsin was the president of the provincial league of municipalities. Janiuay served as conduit of the medicine purchases. However, the Commission on Audit disallowed it./PN
