ILOILO City – Former mayor Pedro Hautea of Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo was arrested yesterday in Barangay Aguyawan Calsada of the municipality. The Sandiganbayan issued a bench warrant against him.
Hautea was caught at around 4 p.m. by Barotac Nuevo policemen headed by Senior Inspector Kenn Lepsia at the wake of a relative.
The bench warrant was signed by Associate Justice Alex Quiroz.
Lepsia said that Hautea voluntarily went with the cops to the Barotac Nuevo police station.
It was not clear to the police as of this writing what case was the bench warrant for.
In May 2017 the Sandiganbayan found Hautea guilty of three counts of falsification of public documents over a mini market project in Barangay Tinorian, Barotac Nuevo.
He was meted a prison sentence of18 to 24 years by the anti-graft court’s Fourth Division together with municipal engineer Norman Lustria. Barangay Tinorian chairman Manuel Siaotong, on the other hand, was found guilty of one count of falsification of public documents and meted six to eight years of imprisonment.
Hautea reportedly filed a motion for reconsideration.
In its 42-page decision, the Sandiganbayan cited the accused officials’ admission that the Tinorian mini market was only finished in early 2002, despite having certified its completion in December 2000 and January 2001.
Justice Reynaldo Cruz penned the decision, with the concurrence of Justices Quiroz and Geraldine Faith Econg./PN
