Ex-mayor convicted over permit

MANILA, Philippines - For refusing to issue a business permit for a variety store, the Sandiganbayan has sentenced a former mayor of Masantol, Pampanga to a maximum of 10 years in jail.

The anti-graft court’s Fourth Division also perpetually barred former Masantol mayor Corazon Lacap from holding public office for violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Records of the case show that one Fermina Santos, owner of a variety store, filed applications for a mayor’s permit in 1999 and 2000 before Lacap’s office which were both denied.

Santos said she went to see Lacap twice to appeal, but the latter got angry and even said, “I will not sign it, are you lucky?”

She said the gap between her and Lacap started when she filed a case for double sale against Abelardo Dizon, the mayor’s compadre. 

She alleged that Lacap and her husband, Epifanio, wanted her to withdraw the complaint but she refused to do so and even filed charges against the mayor and her husband.

Santos said she later went to the Public Assistance Bureau (PAB) of the Office of the Ombudsman which, in turn, sent a notice dated April 26, 1999 to Lacap and forwarded all the documents necessary for the issuance of the permit.

Lacap, however, still failed to act, informing the PAB that no application from Santos had ever reached her office and thus, there was nothing for her to act on.