The reversed decision came two years after the Caloocan Regional Trial Court sentenced Councilor Chito Abel to eight years imprisonment for allegedly stealing construction materials from the city.
In the decision, associate justices Teodoro Regino, Delilah Magtolis, and Perlita Tirona cited lack of sufficient evidence against Abel.
They added that many of the witnesses for the prosecution had contradicting testimonies.
The case started in late 1994 when Abel was accused by then Mayor Asistio of stealing construction materials deposited in a piece of property Abel claims he owns.
Abel, who was already a councilor at the time, said the land along Grace Park, Caloocan had been a property of his family for many years. But Asistio said the land belonged to the national government and that Abel had no basis for his claims. The former mayor later stored construction equipment there.
Abel, who insisted that the property belonged to him, allegedly used the materials to put up fences on the land and hired guards to intimidate city engineers into vacating the premises.
But the councilor said that he only visited the property upon learning that city engineers entered his "family’s land" and started constructing their barracks.
Caloocan Regional Trail Court Judge Antonio Fineza, however, upheld the prosecution and convicted Abel of robbery and ordered him to pay about P100,000 for the missing construction materials.
Abel immediately appealed to the CA.– Matthew Estabillo