There was no demolition, says ex-Rizal town mayor

Former Rodriguez town mayor Pedro Cuerpo said Wednesday that he would ask the Sandiganbayan to reverse its ruling on Tuesday that sentenced him and two other officials to serve six to nine years in prison over the illegal demolition of temporary shelters built on a private property in 2003.

“I will file a motion for reconsideration this week. Although I don’t believe the Sandiganbayan will deny it, I will also bring the case to the Supreme Court,” he said in a phone interview.

“It was not a demolition. I merely prevented them from building their houses,” Cuerpo added.

The antigraft court’s Second Division had found him and two other local officials in Rizal province guilty of violating the antigraft law when they ordered the demolition of the temporary shelters built by 93 residents on a newly bought property in Barangay (village) Burgos in 2003.

On top of the jail sentence, the Sandiganbayan also disqualified Cuerpo, then municipal engineer Fernando Roño and barangay chairman Salvador Simbulan from holding public office.

According to the court’s ruling, the three were liable for tearing down the residents’ makeshift houses “precipitately and without due notice.”

The complainants bought the 8,250-square-meter property in Barangay Burgos in 2002 through the P2.25-million financial assistance they received from the Madrigal family whose Quezon City property they had agreed to vacate.

Cuerpo, however, claimed that part of the property was a dried-up creek, which was considered a danger zone by the local government.

“I [did not want to] endanger the lives of would-be residents by allowing them to construct their houses in a dangerous area. We were only following the necessary procedures,” he said.