BACOLOD City – The Sandiganbayan has sentenced a vice mayor and five other municipal officials of a Negros Occidental town to a maximum of 10 years imprisonment and perpetual disqualification from holding public office after being found guilty of graft.
The decision was rendered by the Sandiganbayan Sixth Division dated Dec. 6.
Vice Mayor John Paul Alvarez of Ilog town along with Municipal Engineer Manuel Sitchon, Planning Officer Elbert Magbato, Budget Officer Hegel Dumadia, Municipal Treasurer Alberto Gidalanon and District Supervisor Arsenia Jaunero were charged with violating Section 3, Paragraph E of Republic Act 3019, or the Anti- Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
The complaint was filed by the Ombudsman in 2004 against the defendants as members of the municipal Bids and Awards Committee that awarded a contract to Miasar Car Care to repair and replace the engine of a Mitsubishi Pajero, the service vehicle of the Department of Education of Ilog I, amounting to P98,500.
The decision was penned by Associate Justices Karl Miranda, Sarah Jane Fernandez and Michael Frederick Musngi.
The Ombudsman accused the respondents of giving “unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference” to Miasar Car Care. The job was awarded “without competitive bidding”, it claimed.
Court records also showed the supplier was paid on Dec. 21, 2004 “although the said repair and motor engine replacement has not yet been completed as of that time.”
In Aug. 1, 2011, “the Court found probable cause for the issuance of a warrant of arrest against all of the accused.”
Alvarez, who was then Ilog mayor, “was conditionally arraigned and pleaded ‘not guilty’ to the charge against him, on Aug. 31, 2011.
“Taken together, the overt acts of Sitchon, Gidalanon, Magbato, Juanero, Dumadia, Quijano and Alvarez point to a joint purpose and design, concerted action and community of interest, which is the unwarranted award, approval and payment of the repair and payment of the repair and engine replacement of the Pajero to Miasar Car Care,” according to the Sandiganbayan.
Alvarez is running unopposed for mayor in the 2019 May elections.
Two other co-accused Joelito Cordero and Jany Joe Bobon were acquitted “for failure of the Prosecution to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.”
Panay News tried to reach Alvarez and the others in the case for comment but no to avail./PN
