The Sandiganbayan has denied the motion for partial reconsideration or new trial filed by Mayor Arnold B. Abalos of San Sebastian town in Samar of his conviction in a graft case.
Abalos and municipal treasurer Virginia A. Uy had been convicted of violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for their failure to remit to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) P1.27 million in taxes collected from 2008 to 2009.
In his motion for partial reconsideration/new trial, Abalos told the anti-graft court that the prosecution failed to prove that he received a demand letter from the BIR and that the municipal treasurer and accountant were in charge of paying the taxes due.
Abalos also sought new trial on the ground of newly-discovered evidence. He said he found documents left unacted by the previous administration when he was re-elected in 2019. These documents, said said, included the taxes due for the years 2008 and 2009.
Uy also filed a motion for reconsideration.
However, the anti-graft court did not rule in their favor. The court said: "Initially, much of the grounds posed by both accused-movants Abalos and Uy, in their respective motions, are not new matters which will prompt this Court to either amend, alter, revise, or even reverse its earlier findings. The issues raised have already been discussed thoroughly in the assailed decision."
On Abalos' plea for new trial, the court said that his newly-discovered evidence does not qualify and does not justify the holding of a new trial. For it to qualify, the court said that the offering party should have exercised due diligence in seeking to locate the evidence before or during trial, but failed to secure it.
Associate Justice Bernelito R. Fernandez wrote the eight-page resolution with the concurrence of Presiding Justice Amparo M. Cabotaje-Tang and Associate Justice Ronald B. Moreno.