2 ex-mayors, 6 others guilty of graft

TWO former mayors and six other local officials were ordered jailed by the Sandiganbayan after they were found guilty in two separate cases of graft and malversation of public funds.

The convictions of Paz Muñoz, the former mayor of Camalig, Albay, and Luciano Ligan, the former mayor of Kibawe, Bukidnon, were the latest in a recent string of legal victories scored by the Office of the Ombudsman in the antigraft court.

In a statement, the Ombudsman Monday said the Sandiganbayan Second Division sentenced Muñoz to up to eight years in prison over irregularities in the awarding of a P447,000 contract for the repair and maintenance of five service vehicles owned by the Camalig municipal government in 2003.

The antigraft court also found municipal accountant Rene Ortonio, municipal treasurer Armando Quintano and town engineer Rogelio Naz Jr. guilty of Republic Act No. 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

In addition to the prison terms, the court also barred them from working in government.

According to the Ombudsman, the Commission on Audit discovered that Muñoz et. al. failed to submit the necessary documents, such as the pre- and post-inspection reports, when they awarded the “exorbitant” maintenance contract to Legazpi Tireworld Corp.

For different purpose

In a separate case, the court found Ligan guilty of technical malversation for the construction of a “tourism function hall” using funds appropriated for the Kaamulan Festival.

“Ombudsman prosecutors successfully proved that the funds appropriated for tourism activities were diverted to a wholly different purpose,” the Ombudsman said.

Found guilty along with Ligan were municipal treasurer Ma. Asuncion Codilla, municipal budget officer Narciso Chaves Jr. and municipal accountant Ellen Piquero.

The Ombudsman said the court did not give weight to the claims of Ligan and the others that the infrastructure project was connected to the tourism activities.

“The Sandiganbayan added that ‘the mere availability of funds from savings, if any, does not carry with it authority to use them for purposes other than those for which they were appropriated,’” it said.