Ex-Palawan mayor convicted over fund release for non-existent road project

Office of the Ombudsman PHOTO from www.ombudsman.gov.ph

MANILA, Philippines—A former Palawan mayor was convicted by the Sandiganbayan over the release of public funds for a project that turned out to be non-existent.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Office of the Ombudsman said it secured the conviction of Alejandro Villapando, former mayor of San Vicente, Palawan, who was found guilty of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

According to the Sandiganbayan, Villapando and municipal treasurer Rodrigo Cipriano Sr. approved and released a check amounting to P247,500  for the purchase of 1,500 bags of cement for a road in Sitio (sub-village) Panindigan.

But a special audit by the Commission on Audit said there was no delivery of cement bags and that the road did not even exist.

The Sandiganbayan said even barangay (village) officials said the road for which the cement bags were intended remained unpaved.
The anti-graft court ordered Villapando to pay  P247,500 to the municipality of San Vicente, Palawan as civil liability.

Meanwhile, the case against Cipriano was provisionally dismissed due to his death.

Villapando was found guilty of violating Section 3(e) of the Anti Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, which punishes a public officer who caused undue injury to a government or a private party in the course of his or her official duties.

Villapando is sentenced with an indeterminate penalty of six years and one month as minimum to 10 years as maximum imprisonment, with the accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification from public office.

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