By Czarina Nicole Ong Ki
The Sandiganbayan Second Division has convicted former Katipunan Mayor Crisostomo Eguia Jr. of several criminal charges over his failure to liquidate cash advances dating back 20 years ago.
Sandiganbayan (MANILA BULLETIN)
Eguia was found guilty for violating 44 counts of Article 218 of the Revised Penal Code, otherwise known as Failure of Accountable Officer to Render Accounts. He was sentenced to suffer the penalty of six months and one day of prison correctional and to pay a fine of P6,000 for each of the charges, or a total of P328,000 with subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency.
Eguia was likewise found guilty for violating 43 counts of Presidential Decree No. 1445, or the Government Auditing Code of the Philippines. For this, he was sentenced to imprisonment of six months and a fine of P1,000 for each of the charges, or a total amount of P43,000.
On the other hand, the former official was acquitted of his 60 graft charges, 31 malversation charges, 17 failure to render accounts charges, and 17 other counts for violating the Government Auditing Code of the Philippines due to the failure of the prosecution to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
From 1998 to 2011, Eguia received around P2 million worth of cash advances for his travel expenses, which he failed to liquidate despite demands made by the Commission on Audit (COA).
The Sandiganbayan anti-graft court cleared Eguia of all his graft charges since the third element of the crime - which is undue injury caused to the government - was not proven. This is because Faith Balanay of the COA testified before the court that Eguia has completed the liquidation of his cash advances as of 2017.
This is the same reason why his malversation charges were dismissed. "The fact that the liquidations were eventually made by accused Eguia way beyond the period required by law does not warrant the conclusion that he appropriated, took or misappropriated the amounts received by him as cash advances," the decision stated.
Meanwhile, his 17 violations of Failure to Render Accounts was dismissed by the court because of the "absence again of the basic documents referred to in the Informations showing the alleged cash advances," such as the disbursement vouchers.
The 44 other violations of Failure to Render Accounts, in contrast, had all of the necessary evidence needed to convict Eguia.
Lastly, Eguia's 17 violations of the Government Auditing Code were dismissed because the evidence is insufficient to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt. But he was implicated for the 43 other charges because of the prosecution's success in proving his liability.
"It needs to be emphasized that accused Eguia merely made a sweeping assertion that he has already liquidated all his cash advances. He stated that he submitted all his documents to the accounting office but did not dispute the declarations of the prosecution witnesses," the decision read.
The 61-page decision was written by Chairperson Oscar Herrera Jr. with the concurrence of Associate Justices Michael Frederick Musngi and Lorifel Pahimna.