Ex-councilman found guilty of falsification

CEBU, Philippines - A former councilman of Barangay Malingin, Daanbantayan, Cebu was found guilty of falsifying public documents.

Assisting Judge Olegario Sarmiento Jr. of Regional Trial Court Branch 61 convicted Santos Mondejar for two counts of violation of falsification of a public document.

Sarmiento sentenced the accused to suffer six months and one day to six years imprisonment and to pay a P5,000-fine for each count.

“There is a plethora of evidence that the accused made use of it, taking advantage of it and profiting thereby, the presumption is that he is the material author of the falsification,” read the decision.

Mondejar is also ordered to pay the value of the difference from 870 square meters to 1,351 square meters from the time of the issuance of the title if restitution is no longer possible, P20,000 for attorney’s fee and P20,000 for litigation expenses.

In the complaint, Mondejar was accused of taking advantage of his official duty with intent to falsify an affidavit of adjoining lot owners dated December 31, 1994.

“Affiants alleged therein that Santos Mondejar is a sole claimant of Lot No. 11125 and the said lot is free from liens and encumbrances, thereby counterfeiting and feigning the signatures of Cirila Verdida and Prudencio Arcenal, causing it to appear that these persons participated in the act when they did not,” according to the charge sheet.

The accused likewise made it appear that Verdida executed an affidavit stating Lot No. 11125 located at barangay Malingin was actually “free from claims and conflict.”

In his 15-page decision, Sarmiento found weight on the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses.

Cirila Verdida, during her testimony, said the signature was not hers. She clarified that there was already a claim and conflict over the said lot as early as 1993 when Teresita Agbon filed a formal claim over the same lot before the office of Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer (PENRO).

She added that in the said affidavit, her surname was spelled wrong as Bersida.

The accused denied the allegations.

“I don’t know about the protest made by Teresita against my application for free patent,” he said. He added that what appeared in the affidavit was a signature of Verdida. He said he knew Verdida for a long time because they were neighbors.

Meanwhile, Sarmiento in his decision, stated that the accused cannot pretend to be ignorant.

“There is doubt as to the true circumstances of the signing of the adjoining lot owners’ affidavit. Accused cannot pretend to be ignorant as to the true owner of the property constituting the boundary in the north because it is part of the property he bought from the father of complainant and the latter is the half-sister of his wife,” he ruled. — (FREEMAN)