Convicted execs have options, says justice

MANILA, Philippines–A ranking official of the ruling Liberal Party convicted of graft will not be seeing the inside of a prison cell anytime soon.

Oriental Mindoro Gov. Alfonso Umali Jr., the treasurer of the LP headed by President Aquino, and his coaccused may exhaust all legal remedies to overturn their conviction for graft, Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Jose Hernandez said on Tuesday.

Hernandez, chair of the antigraft court’s Fourth Division, wrote the 37-page decision which found Umali, former Oriental Mindoro Rep. Rodolfo Valencia and former Board Member Romualdo Bawasanta guilty beyond reasonable doubt of facilitating a P2.5-million loan to a ship owner two decades ago.

In an interview, the magistrate said Umali and the others may file a motion for reconsideration in the Fourth Division and go up to the Supreme Court if their appeal to overturn the court’s ruling is denied.

“Until the decision is made with finality, (Umali) cannot be removed from his post,” Hernandez told reporters.

“That’s also true with the (prison term) which will not be implemented until the decision becomes final…in the Supreme Court,” he added.

In its ruling, the court sentenced Umali, Valencia and Bawasanta to up to 10 years in prison for violating Republic Act No. 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

At the time, Valencia was the governor while Umali was provincial administrator of Oriental Mindoro.

The court also barred them from ever working in government again and forfeited their retirement benefits.

The case stemmed from the anomalous release of a P2.5-million loan by the provincial government to Alfredo Atienza in January 1994 for the repair and operation of a private passenger vessel.

As to Valencia’s claim the case was politically motivated, Hernandez said he should just read the court’s resolution.

Meanwhile, the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) lauded the Sandiganbayan for the “monumental triumph of justice in the fight against graft and corruption in government.”

Dante Jimenez, VACC founding chair, said the guilty verdict the antigraft court meted out on Umali et al. should be a warning to all public officials as it involved an ally of the President.

He said the Fourth Division’s ruling “speaks well of how the Sandiganbayan must handle its cases focusing on the merits” of cases brought by the Office of the Ombudsman against government officials.