Phillip gets 20 years for estafa

The Las Piñas City regional trial court (RTC) has found actor Phillip Salvador guilty of estafa charges filed more than a year ago by his former girlfriend.

Salvador was sentenced to the maximum penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment and ordered to pay damages of $100,000 or its equivalent in Philippine currency.

Salvador’s co-accused and elder brother, Ramon Salvador, a movie line producer, was acquitted by Las Piñas RTC Branch 202 Judge Elizabeth Guray for insufficiency of evidence.

The case stemmed from a complaint lodged by Cristina Castillo against Phillip after he allegedly misappropriated the $100,000 entrusted to him by the complainant for a business venture in May 2002.

Castillo, a businesswoman, said she agreed to fund the freight and remittance business in Hong Kong proposed by the Salvador brothers. She also said that, during that time, she was in an intimate relationship with Phillip.

She added that the Salvador brothers promised her that they would personally take charge of the operations and marketing of the business venture they had proposed and assured her of huge profits.

According to Castillo, the Salvador brothers had intended to capitalize on Phillip’s popularity as an actor so their business would be patronized by Filipinos in Hong Kong, who often remit money and send goods to their families or relatives in the Philippines.

Castillo said she discovered that the Salvador siblings did not open or operate the remittance business as planned. Castillo added that she learned that the money was used by the actor for gambling sorties to Macau.

She said Phillip told her he had used the money to pay the financial obligations he incurred during his campaign when he ran as vice mayor of Mandaluyong City in the May 2001 elections.

Phillip alleged that the funds were deposited in a bank, but failed to provide proof of the deposit, Castillo said.

"Damage is clear from the fact that the business did not become operational and from the fact that complainant was not reimbursed of the amount of $100,000," Guray said in her 24-page decision.

Disappointed with Guray’s decision, Philip said he was surprised at the verdict, since he did not in any way admit in court that "he received $100,000 from the complainant."

Roberto Abad, Phillip’s lawyer, said they plan to file a motion for reconsideration before the court. If the RTC will not recognize the motion for reconsideration, Abad said they intend to bring the case to the Court of Appeals. Phillip is out on bail.

Castillo said she felt vindicated by the court’s decision.