Makati judge gets 26 years in jail for graft

MANILA, Philippines - The Sandiganbayan has sentenced a Makati City judge to a maximum of 26 years in jail for graft and malversation of public funds.

Judge Joseph Cedrick Ruiz was ordered to pay a fine of P950,000 equivalent to the amount of confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) that he pocketed and failed to liquidate in 2001 as outgoing mayor of Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte.

The anti-graft court also slapped him with penalty of perpetual disqualification from holding any public office.

In a 27-page decision penned by Sandiganbayan First Division chairman Efren de la Cruz and released last Monday, Ruiz was meted out eight years in jail for graft and 18 more years for malversation of public funds.

Associate Justices Rodolfo Ponferrada and Rafael Lagos concurred with the decision.

The anti-graft court gave weight to the testimony of co-accused-turned-state witness Pepe Nortal, former chief of police of Dapitan City.

During trial, Nortal told the Sandiganbayan that a few weeks before Ruiz was scheduled to step down after losing the 2001 mayoralty polls, the latter asked him to make a P1 million cash advance from the locality’s CIF.

Nortal testified that he gave the money to Ruiz in four bundles of P250,000 and was given P50,000 for the anti-illegal drugs campaign of the local police.

He said the former mayor chided him when he asked for proof of a receipt of the CIF.

The Sangguniang Panlungsod of Dapitan City eventually conducted an investigation with Nortal himself among those probed for the missing funds.  

The former police chief later filed a complaint against Ruiz before the Office of the Ombudsman, but ended up becoming a co-accused.

Nortal, after being indicted in 2008, eventually became a state witness for the prosecution and helped secure the conviction of Ruiz.

Ruiz even tried to discredit his former police chief by accusing the latter of being a supporter of former congressman Romeo Jalosjos whose brother-in-law, Rodolfo Carreon, was Ruiz’s opponent in the past elections.