Ombudsman recovers ill-gotten wealth of former Calauan mayor
Published Apr 3, 2018 03:34 pm
By Czarina Nicole Ong
The Office of the Ombudsman said it was finally able to recover the ill-gotten wealth of former Calauan Mayor Antonio Sanchez and his wife, Editha Vito-Sanchez of Laguna.
(MANILA BULLETIN)
The Office of the Ombudsman managed to secure copies of the Transfer Certificates of Title (TCTs) of the 19 real properties now registered under the name of the Republic of the Philippines. The properties that are all located in Calauan were only part of the illegally-obtained wealth of the former mayor.
The Sandiganbayan issued a decision on July 18, 2016, ordering the forfeiture of the Sanchez couple's real properties, residential building, two units of Mercedez Benz 1987 model 230E series with plate numbers PTD 777 and TAK 777, one Dodge Caravan van with plate number TAJ 777, their shares in ERAIS lending business including accrued dividends, and P246,120 in cash and bank accounts.
Sanchez, who was formerly the vice mayor of a fourth-class municipality, was only entitled to a per diem of P992 per municipal council session, which totals to P3,968 per month.
When he became mayor from 1980 to 1981, his maximum salary then became P17,724 per month. It became P26,388 from 1981 to 1986, but was then downgraded to P10,443 when he became the mayor of a fifth-class municipality.
Together, the Sanchez couple posted joint income tax returns totaling to P855,073.88 during the six-year period.
However, the Sandiganbayan found their income tax returns "grossly disproportionate" to their lavish lifestyles. Despite their income, they were able to send three of their children to Hurtwood House - an exclusive school in London costing £13,185 per term or roughly P1 million per child.
They also made frequent travels to the United States, Italy, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and Hong Kong. What's more, they celebrated a lavish birthday party with 550 guests at the Manila Hotel and owned several properties in Calauan, among many other things.
"We find that respondents’ assets and expenses are grossly and manifestly disproportionate to their legitimate income and thus, these assets and the funds used for the disproportionate expenses were unlawfully acquired, and hence, subject to forfeiture," the anti-graft court stated in its decision.
The Sandiganbayan blamed the case's delay to the "years of attempts at arriving at an amicable settlement, not to mention numerous postponements granted by the Court."
"From the records of this case, it is evident that a large chunk of the blame for the years of delay must lie with the respondents who, for a time, managed to persuade this Court to suspend trial in order to give the parties a chance to settle the case amicably," it added in the decision.
The decision added: "Later on, it became clear that respondents’ supposed attempts at compromise were hollow and insincere, serving no other purpose than significantly halting the trial. Add to that, this case was also plagued with an extraordinary number of postponements sought by respondents because of their revolving door of lawyers."
The TCTs, which reached the Office of the Ombudsman on March 1 this year, were already forwarded to the Bureau of Treasury of the Department of Finance (DOF).
Sanchez is currently detained at New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City after being convicted for the deaths of UP Los Banos student Eileen Sarmenta and her boyfriend Allan Gomez, also from the same university.
(MANILA BULLETIN)
The Office of the Ombudsman managed to secure copies of the Transfer Certificates of Title (TCTs) of the 19 real properties now registered under the name of the Republic of the Philippines. The properties that are all located in Calauan were only part of the illegally-obtained wealth of the former mayor.
The Sandiganbayan issued a decision on July 18, 2016, ordering the forfeiture of the Sanchez couple's real properties, residential building, two units of Mercedez Benz 1987 model 230E series with plate numbers PTD 777 and TAK 777, one Dodge Caravan van with plate number TAJ 777, their shares in ERAIS lending business including accrued dividends, and P246,120 in cash and bank accounts.
Sanchez, who was formerly the vice mayor of a fourth-class municipality, was only entitled to a per diem of P992 per municipal council session, which totals to P3,968 per month.
When he became mayor from 1980 to 1981, his maximum salary then became P17,724 per month. It became P26,388 from 1981 to 1986, but was then downgraded to P10,443 when he became the mayor of a fifth-class municipality.
Together, the Sanchez couple posted joint income tax returns totaling to P855,073.88 during the six-year period.
However, the Sandiganbayan found their income tax returns "grossly disproportionate" to their lavish lifestyles. Despite their income, they were able to send three of their children to Hurtwood House - an exclusive school in London costing £13,185 per term or roughly P1 million per child.
They also made frequent travels to the United States, Italy, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and Hong Kong. What's more, they celebrated a lavish birthday party with 550 guests at the Manila Hotel and owned several properties in Calauan, among many other things.
"We find that respondents’ assets and expenses are grossly and manifestly disproportionate to their legitimate income and thus, these assets and the funds used for the disproportionate expenses were unlawfully acquired, and hence, subject to forfeiture," the anti-graft court stated in its decision.
The Sandiganbayan blamed the case's delay to the "years of attempts at arriving at an amicable settlement, not to mention numerous postponements granted by the Court."
"From the records of this case, it is evident that a large chunk of the blame for the years of delay must lie with the respondents who, for a time, managed to persuade this Court to suspend trial in order to give the parties a chance to settle the case amicably," it added in the decision.
The decision added: "Later on, it became clear that respondents’ supposed attempts at compromise were hollow and insincere, serving no other purpose than significantly halting the trial. Add to that, this case was also plagued with an extraordinary number of postponements sought by respondents because of their revolving door of lawyers."
The TCTs, which reached the Office of the Ombudsman on March 1 this year, were already forwarded to the Bureau of Treasury of the Department of Finance (DOF).
Sanchez is currently detained at New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City after being convicted for the deaths of UP Los Banos student Eileen Sarmenta and her boyfriend Allan Gomez, also from the same university.