Ex-Zamboanga del Sur mayor acquitted of graft

MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan has acquitted a former municipal mayor in Zamboanga del Sur and eight other defendants of graft charges in connection with the allegedly anomalous procurement of a heavy equipment.

In a 95-page decision promulgated on Aug. 13, the anti-graft court’s Sixth Division said the Office of the Ombudsman failed to present sufficient evidence to prove Tukuran Mayor Francisvic Villamero and his  co-accused guilty of violation of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Aside from Villamero, acquitted were former bids and awards committee officials and members Roberto Sayson, Loreto Peñaranda, Noe Gozalo, Rogelim Cabrales, Wilfredo David, Ricardo Solis and Jovito Ondiano.

The court also cleared private respondent Cesario Advincula Jr., president and chief executive officer of the IVAN CARR Industrial Supply and Construction Inc.

Filed by the ombudsman in 2018, the case stemmed from the municipal government’s award of a supply contract to IVAN CARR in 2011 for the purchase of a motor grader amounting to P9.45 million.

The ombudsman said the contract was awarded despite several irregularities, such as the failure of the municipal government to publish an invitation to bid in a newspaper of general circulation and on the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System.

The court, however, said the invitation was published on Dec. 3, 2010 in the Mindanao Gold Star Daily.