OMBUDSMAN Conchita Carpio- Morales on Wednesday announced the conviction of two town mayors for graft and their imprisonment for a maximum jail term of 10 years for each count, or a total of 90 years.
Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Reynaldo Cruz in a 20-page decision found Jose Villarosa, ex-San Jose mayor, guilty of violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and sentenced him to a jail term ranging from six years to 10 years for each count.Ӭ
During the trial, the Ombudsman prosecutors were able to prove that Villarosa issued nine extraction permits to quarry sand to GEM CHB Maker, Timoteo Aguilar, Arvi Dolojan, Andres Pablo, R.D. Go Concrete Products, Jojo Pojas, Emilia de Lara, Antonio Villaroza and Jessie Glass and Aluminum Enterprise with evident bad faith and in violation of the Local Government Code in 2010 to 2011.
In another development, the Ombudsman said the anti-graft court also sentenced former Borongan Fidel Anacta Jr. of Eastern Samar to suffer imprisonment ranging from six years to 10 years with accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification from public service for graft raps.
The conviction stemmed from a deed of conditional sale entered into by Anacta in 2003 over a 16,426-square-meter private lot with a price of P8,213,000, which prosecutors found to be grossly disadvantageous since the lot’s market value was only P58,197, and the Sangguniang Bayan did not authorize the purchase.
The municipal government would incur additional costs because of unpaid taxes and lack of right of way, and that it was unlawful for Anacta to disburse the initial payment to the property owner withoutӬvesting title to the local government, causing it undue injury.
“It is true that there is a need to purchase a lot to be converted to a memorial park as the old memorial parks are already congested. However, existing laws and procedures must first be complied with in order to ensure that the general welfare of the people will be promoted,” the anti-graft court
