Sandigan amends jail sentence of ex-PRC exec found guilty of estafa

Sandiganbayan in Quezon City. (File photo by NIÑO JESUS ORBETA / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines – The Sandiganbayan has amended the jail sentence of a former commissioner of the Philippine Regulatory Commission (PRC) who was earlier found guilty of estafa.

According to a resolution from the Second Division on June 3, Alfredo Yap Po will now certainly serve the maximum penalty of four months and one day, after he was originally sentenced to a minimum of two months and one day and maximum of four months and one day.

“Wherefore, pursuant to the court’s inherent power to amend its process and orders so as to make them comfortable to law and justice, the penultimate paragraph of the dispositive portion of the decision dated March 22, 2019 is hereby amended,” the resolution, written by Associate Justice Oscar Herrera, said.

Po was convicted on March 22 for receiving funds worth P728,539 intended for the Philippine Society of Mechanical Engineers (PSME) in 2005.  This was during his stint as former chair of the Board of Mechanical Engineering (BME). These funds were obtained from ticket sales and membership fees during a November 2005 event.

He initially claimed that he did not receive anything from the PSME membership dues, but two officials both testified that there was an order to transmit the funds to Po’s office.

Regulation Officer II Ofelia Dichoso, working under Po’s office, testified that she personally handed the funds to the accused.  She also insisted that she saw Po sign documents indicating that he received the money, despite differences in his signature in the receiving papers and other documents. (Editor: Jonathan P. Vicente)

READ: Sandigan finds ex-PRC commissioner guilty of estafa