Sandiganbayan defends the sentence of Aurora officials for the irregular infra project project

The court does not agree with the defendant’s claims that his conspiracy was not proven and that there was not enough evidence to prove the bias or negligence.

Manila, Philippines – the Sandiganbayan Anti-injut Recently confirmed the conviction of six officials in the province of Aurora labeled in the irregular prize of an infrastructure project in 2014.

In a resolution dated February 27, the Sixth Division of the Special Court denied the separate motions of reconsiderations presented by the following officials condemned for violation of Section 3 (e) of the Law of the Republic No. 3019 or the Law of Anti-Injustrcy and Corrupt Practices:

• Provincial Administrator Simeon de Castro
• Former Provincial Budget Officer Paz Torregosa
• President of the Bugs and Awards Committee (BAC) Ricardo Bautista
• The members of Bac Norma Clemente, Isaias Noveras Jr. and Benedict Rojo

These officials were also sentenced to imprisonment of up to 10 years during the promulgation of the sentence held in September last year.

In his appeal, the defendant challenged Sandiganbayan’s ruling that there was evidence beyond the reasonable doubt in his conviction. Beyond the reasonable doubt is the threshold that the Prosecutor’s Office must meet to condemn a defendant in a criminal case.

They affirmed that their conspiracy was not proven and that the evidence to support that they expressed the partiality or inexcusable negligence was not enough. However, the court did not agree with the defendant.

“After a review of the records of the case and the arguments raised … the court denies the three reconsideration motions. The issues raised are a mere repetition and repetition of the issues and arguments that have been considered and transmitted by the court, ”said Sandiganbayan.

According to the Anti-Injustrcy Court, the timeline of public works projects established that officials acted with a manifest partiality in favor of the contractor. Sandiganbayan said the notice to proceed on August 15, 2024 was the exact date on which the works were allegedly completed, according to the Achievement Report of August 18, 2024.

“All of the acts of the accused turned out that the government was disappointed. When they met, the actions of all the defendants revealed their plan to allow the construction of RMCR to be chosen without the benefit of a public tender, ”added the court.

The case arose from the position presented by the Office of the Ombudsman in 2018, where prosecutors alleged that the tender was manipulated in favor of the construction of RMCR. The tender had been manipulated so that the company can win the contracts to repair the Dimalang Bridge approach from Casiguran-Dilasag Provincial Road and a road section of the Provincial Highway of Casiguran-Dilasag, according to the Ombudsman.

Prosecutors added that the construction of these projects were already implemented and almost completed even before the acquisition process ended. The law requires a tender in government projects to guarantee transparency and fair competition.

Only three days after the provincial government issued the notices to proceed to RMCR, an achievement report had already been issued dated August 18, 2014, which declares that both “100 percent complete” projects had already been issued. – Rappler.com