Ex-Lanao del Sur mayor charged for failure to declare firearms, truck in SALNs

The Office of the Ombudsman (File photo by NINO JESUS ORBETA / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

The Office of the Ombudsman has indicted a former mayor of Marantao, Lanao del Sur for failing to declare five firearms and a truck in his statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs) from 2007 to 2012.

In a statement on Thursday, the Ombudsman said there was probable cause to charge former mayor Mohammadali Abboh Abinal for six counts each of violation of Section 8 of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees; and Article 183 (perjury) of the Revised Penal Code.

“Respondent (Abinal) made a willful and deliberate assertion of a falsehood when he failed to declare the mentioned assets in his SALNs,” the statement read, quoting the Ombudsman resolution.

“His claims that his firearms were either confiscated or lost and that his truck was scrapped are matters of defense involving factual issues, hence, should be fully explained and threshed out not in a preliminary investigation but during trial,” it added.  /kga