Ex-Kalinga mayor, wife get 34 years for graft, bribery

MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan has sentenced a former town mayor of Tabuk, Kalinga and his wife to up to 34 years in prison.

In a decision released yesterday, the anti-graft court’s seventh division said Camilo Lammawin Jr. and his wife Salud were found guilty of graft and direct bribery. They were also ordered to pay a fine of P1.5 million.

The couple asked P400,000 from Rodman Construction and Development Corp. (RCDC) in exchange for the release of a check amounting to P2 million representing the municipal government’s payment for a project, the Office of the Ombudsman said in filing the charges in January 2014.

The ombudsman said the couple also asked P120,000 from RCDC in exchange for the release of another check amounting to P1.7 million.  

“Had accused... not demanded and received money... had spouses Lammawin not given their ... bank accounts where the... P400,000 and P120,000 were deposited, they could have not been charged,” the Sandiganbayan said.  

“Their respective defense that the amounts were actually in payment for the money extended to RCDC to augment its operational expenses could not and will not even save them,” the ruling read.

”Prudence could have dictated them not to lend money because lending money to a contractor for a project in which a public official had actual participation, directly or indirectly, is against public policy and never to be countenanced no matter how noble the intention is,” the court said.