Ex-Angeles City mayor gets 12 to 20 years for graft

Former Angeles City Mayor Blueboy Nepomuceno. PHOTO FROM FACEBOOK

The Sandiganbayan has sentenced former Angeles City Mayor Francis “Blueboy” Nepomuceno to at least 12 years’ imprisonment for the unlawful donation of a city-owned service vehicle to a nongovernment organization in 2010.

The antigraft court’s Fourth Division found Nepomuceno guilty of one count each of violating Sections 3(e) and 3(g) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, for giving unwarranted benefits to a private party and for binding the government into a disadvantageous contract.

Nepomuceno and one private individual, Kapanalig Angeles City, Inc. president Abelardo Pamintuan Jr., were each meted prison terms of at least 12 years and two months to a maximum of 20 years arising from the two criminal convictions.

The verdict arose from the June 8, 2010 donation of a Mitsubishi Adventure GLS 2.5 vehicle with the plate number SHL 124 and acquisition cost of P786,000. Because Kapanalig was not a government entity, state prosecutors questioned the donation for violating the Local Government Code.

In a 26-page decision on March 27, the Sandiganbayan said “the donation…is without justification because a motor vehicle which is still in use by the city government is not allowed.”

Citing the Commission on Audit Circular No. 92-386, the court said only government vehicles that have become unserviceable or no longer needed may be disposed of at a public auction.

It added that only “disposable government property” reported for disposition may be donated subject to the approval of the Sangguniang Panlungsod. In this case, the donated vehicle was “never reported for disposition.”

The donation was also deemed disadvantageous to the government, with the court pointing out that had Nepomuceno followed the rules on disposable property, the vehicle could have been auctioned off or transferred to another agency instead.

The decision also cited the “hasty manner” of Nepomuceno in allowing the donation at Pamintuan’s request.

“As soon as he found out that there was an available motor vehicle, [Nepomuceno] immediately set in motion the processing of the donation by giving instructions to the City Administrator to make the necessary request from the City Council to authorize him to execute the said donation,” the decision read.

The court also pointed to the Commission on Audit’s findings in Audit Observation Memorandum No. 2010-005-(10) as reiterated in the Interim Report on the Audit of the Accounts and Operations of the City of Angeles.

A total of 11 functioning and newly acquired motor vehicles with acquisition cost of P10.21 million were donated to different barangays (villages), government agencies and NGOs without ample consideration for the city’s financial condition and service needs, and without observing the pertinent rules, the said report found.

Justice Reynaldo P. Cruz penned the decision, with the concurrence of Justices Alex L. Quiroz and Geraldine Faith A. Econg.