MANILA, Philippines — A barangay captain and a councilman in Daet, Camarines Norte may spend up to 12 years in jail over an anomalous vehicle purchase.
In a decision promulgated on July 1, the Sandiganbayan’s First Division upheld the decision of the Daet Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 39, which sentenced Barangay Lag-on chairman Agustin Ocampo and kagawad Carlito Aduana to up to 12 years in prison with the accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification from public office.
The anti-graft court said Ocampo and Aduana failed to present relevant arguments to warrant the reversal of the RTC ruling.
The case stemmed from the purchase of a Mitsubishi Delica from a certain Larry Navarro in 2008 amounting to P250,000 using barangay funds.
In filing the case, the Office of the Ombudsman said the purchase was made three days before the supposed completion of the price canvass and 24 days before the supposed conduct of public bidding.
“Ocampo and Aduana conspired in the rigging of the bidding process, which was held only after the actual purchase of the van. They made it appear that the bidding was competitive when... they knew beforehand that Navarro would turn out to be the winning bidder since they already paid him even before the bidding commenced,” the court ruling read.
“They did this without a certification of availability of funds, without an appropriation of funds and without complying with the bidding process,” the court said.
Aside from giving unwarranted benefit to Navarro, the court said Ocampo and Aduana caused undue injury to the barangay as it was deprived of the opportunity to obtain the vehicle at the most affordable price.