Cebu labor arbiter gets 9-year jail term for graft

MANILA, Philippines - The Sandiganbayan has sentenced an arbiter of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) in Cebu City to a maximum of nine years in jail for graft.

In a 19-page decision, the anti-graft court’s Second Division chaired by Associate Justice Teresita Diaz-Baldoz found Ricardo Barrios Jr. of the NLRC guilty, also imposing perpetual disqualification on him from holding public office and ordering him to pay a certain Eduardo Abella the amount of P25,000.

Records show that the case against Barrios stemmed from his modifying a Court of Appeals resolution in the case of Philippine Telegraph & Telephone Corp. against the NLRC and Abella which had become final and executory.