By Czarina Nicole Ong Ki Former Valladolid municipal engineer and bids and awards committee (BAC) vice chairman Joseph Alfonso Manayon of Negros Occidental has entered into a plea bargaining agreement with the prosecution so he could escape his graft charge involving the reportedly irregular procurement of construction materials back in 2008. Because of his plea bargain, Manayon was meted a penalty of a fine amounting to P5,000 instead of imprisonment, which is one of the penalties of a graft conviction. Manayon is one of the co-accused in the graft charge filed against former Valladolid Mayor Romel Yogore. The other accused are former bids and awards committee (BAC) members Giovanni Robles, Ernesto Genobis, Daisy Galve, Merlene Magbanua, and Jonie Nieve. On December 18, 2008, they reportedly gave undue advantage to Jonie Nieve, owner of JB Nieve Hardware & Construction Supplies, when they procured construction materials for the repair and improvement of the Rural Health Unit of Valladoid worth P230,395.31 without the conduct of public bidding. Nieve is also the brother-in-law of Yogore. During their arraignment on August 17, 2017, all of the accused entered into a not guilty plea. Manayon was also suspended for three months before he was eventually dismissed from service. Manayon later manifested that he wanted to enter into a plea bargaining agreement with the prosecution. After obtaining the approval of the private complainant and prosecution, the anti-graft court issued a decision granting his motion. In his urgent motion, Manayon requested that he be allowed to plead guilty to violation of Section 7(a) of R.A. 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials instead of Section 3(e) of R.A. 3019, otherwise known as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. "After a review of the instant motion as well as the relevant evidence, this Court finds that the requested plea bargain meets the second requisite - that is, that the plea of guilt should be to a lesser offense which is necessarily included in the offense charged, as stated in the complaint or information," the decision read. It was penned by Associate Justice Georgina Hidalgo with the concurrence of Chairperson Ma. Theresa Dolores Gomez-Estoesta and Associate Justice Zaldy Trespeses.