CANDON CITY, Ilocos Sur — The Sandiganbayan found Sto. Domingo, Ilocos Sur Mayor Floro Tadena guilty of graft and corruption.
The anti-graft court said Tadena falsified public documents when he altered the contents of an approved municipal ordinance in his town involving the creation of a municipal administrator. He was sentenced to a jail term of four to eight years.
Tadena together with three other town mayors in the country litigated by the Office of the Ombudsman got convicted in September. They were San Teodoro, Oriental Mindoro Mayor Apollo Ferraren; Calauag, Quezon Mayor Eric Entienza; and Majayjay, Laguna Mayor Victorino Rodillas.
According to the Sandiganbayan ruling, Mayor Ferraren was found guilty of violating Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and was sentenced to a jail term of six to 10 years after the Ombudsman proved that he allowed a businessman to use the municipality’s heavy equipment for a private enterprise without the required permits and payment of rentals in 2004.
Mayor Entienza was also convicted of falsification and sentenced to a jail term of two to eight years. The anti-graft court found that he issued a certification falsely claiming that a certain Annaliza Prudente was employed as the municipality’s Property Custodian earning P5,063 a month in 2009.
Meanwhile, Mayor Rodillas was found guilty of “Failure of Accountable Officer to Render Accounts” and was ordered to pay a fine of P3,000 after failing to account the P100,000 he received as cash advance in 2003 to be used for the purchase of supplies.
According to Sandiganbayan, Rodillas withdrew his earlier plea of “not guilty” and entered a plea of “guilty.” The court imposed a fine taking into consideration the mitigating circumstance of the plea of guilty and his lack of financial means.