Sandigan clears Tupas of graft

MANILA, Philippines – The Sandiganbayan has acquitted former Iloilo governor Niel Tupas Sr. and his co-accused in a graft case more than a year after his death.

In a 23-page resolution released recently, the First Division said state prosecutors from the Office of the Ombudsman failed to prove allegations that Tupas acted with “evident bad faith, manifest partiality and gross inexcusable negligence” or conspired with the other respondents in issuing a quarrying permit to a private contractor in 2004.

“The court fails to see the presence of the elements of the offense charged... simply alleging that there is evident bad faith is not enough for it is well settled that allegation does not amount to proof. And charges based on mere suspicion and speculation cannot be given credence,” the resolution penned by Associate Justice Reynaldo Cruz read.

Associate Justices Efren de la Cruz and Michael Frederick Musngi agreed with the ruling.

The case stemmed from Tupas’ allegedly anomalous issuance of an industrial sand and gravel (ISAG) permit to Melvin Requinto despite the latter’s lack of track record and technical capability to go into the quarrying business.

With the permit in hand, Requinto entered into a memorandum of agreement with the M. Montesclaros Enterprises Inc. (MMEI), a private company whose owners were supposedly Tupas' relatives, for the operation and maintenance of a rock crushing plant.

The MMEI in turn entered into a P63-million subcontractor agreement with Taisei-Shimizu Joint Venture (TSJV), which won the contract to build the New Iloilo Airport.

Although Tupas died in November 2015 due to a heart problem, the court ruled to proceed with the case so co-accused Marianito Montesclaros, Esther Montesclaros, Maita Montesclaros-Gue, Mariano Rico Montesclaros and Totsy Montesclaros could be tried.

“Here, the singular act of accused Tupas Sr. in approving the ISAG permit of accused Requinto failed to demonstrate that it was done in furtherance of a common design to benefit accused Montesclaros and the other accused,” the court said.

It added that the claim that Tupas approved the ISAG permit in bad faith and with manifest partiality was “baseless since even the testimony of its own witness as well as the provincial records showed that the permit’s approval came after Requinto’s application passed the evaluations of the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO), Provincial Mining and Regulatory Board (PMRB) and the Provincial Legal Office.”

The court said Tupas’ observance of proper procedures bolstered his argument that he did not exercise the sole discretion to approve the permit and he could not guarantee its  endorsement by the PENRO or PMRB.

Prosecutors failed to prove  guilt beyond reasonable doubt, the court said in clearing the defendants.

The court ordered the lifting of the hold order against Tupas’ co-accused and the return of the P30,000 bail bond they each posted to gain temporary freedom.