The Supreme Court (SC) has affirmed the Sandiganbayan’s 2016 graft conviction of the former mayor and municipal accountant of Luna, Isabela on the P2.5 million road concreting project in 2008.
Upheld was the conviction of former Mayor Manuel A. Tio and Municipal Accountant Lolita I. Cadiz. Their motions to reconsider the Sandiganbayan’s ruling was denied in the SC decision written by Chief Justice Diosdado M. Peralta.
Case records showed that on Jan. 23, 2008, the municipality of Luna and the province of Isabela entered into an agreement for the construction of one-kilometer road concreting project in barangays Harana and Mambabanga. Isabela province undertook to provide P5 million for the project.
On July 29, 2008, Tio approved and authorized the release to Double A, the contractor, of P2.5 million as partial payment for the project. The disbursement voucher was also signed by Cadiz who certified that the documents for the issuance of the voucher were complete and the allotment was intended for the project.
Tio signed the check for Double A in behalf of the municipality.
However, on Dec. 2, 2008, the Commission on Audit (COA) issued a notice of suspension on the payment. The commission cited, among other things, that aside from Double A’s receipt, there were no documents attached to the disbursement voucher.
On Feb. 23, 2009, the members of the town’s bids and awards committee (BAC) declared they were not aware of the project and thus, they could not produce the documents required by COA. They later submitted their mass resignation as BAC members.
During the proceedings in the Sandiganbayan, the prosecution submitted evidence that the project did not undergo public bidding as required by the law and that documents were incomplete to support the implementation of the project.
The Sandiganbayan convicted Tio and Cadiz of graft in a decision handed down on Nov. 29, 2016. Their motion for reconsideration was denied on Feb. 27, 2017. They elevated the case to the SC.
In denying their motion for reconsideration, the SC ruled:
“Here, when Tio awarded the contract to Double A without public bidding, and when he and Cadiz caused the payment of P2,500,000 to Double A despite the incomplete documents, they gave Double A unwarranted benefits, advantage and preference.
“In fine, Tio acted with manifest partiality in awarding the road concreting project to Double A, in the absence of public bidding, which gave unwarranted benefit, advantage or preference to Double A.
“Both Tio and Cadiz acted with gross inexcusable negligence in causing the payment of P2,500,000 to Double A despite the incomplete supporting documents, giving unwarranted benefit, advantage or preference in favor of Double A.
“WHEREFORE, the appeals are DISMISSED. The Decision dated November 29, 2016 and the Resolution dated February 27, 2017 of the Sandiganbayan in SB-13-CRM-0575 are hereby AFFIRMED.
“Accused Manuel A. Tio and Lolita I. Cadiz are found GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt of violating Section 3(e) of Republic Act No. 3019, otherwise known as the "Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act," and accordingly sentenced to suffer the penalty of imprisonment for an indeterminate period of six (6) years and one (1) month, as minimum, to ten (10) years, as maximum, with perpetual disqualification from public office. SO ORDERED.”
The SC decision which was promulgated on Jan. 19, 2021 was made public last March 10.