The Sandiganbayan has acquitted former mayor Ricardo M. Camacho of Bayambang town in Pangasinan and a private individual of their two graft charges involving the alleged irregular transfer of public land in 2013.

In a decision, the anti-graft court ruled that the prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt the charges filed against Camacho and Willy L. Chua, general manager of Super Concrete Aggregates.

The charges stemmed from the transfer of the municipality's parcel of land with a market value of P25,320,000 in August 2013 in exchange for Chua's property with a market value of P16,464,800. The prosecution said the transfer caused undue injury to the municipal government in the amount of P8,855,200.

While Camacho was authorized by the municipal council to enter into a Deed of Exchange or a barter, the court stressed in its ruling that the barter may only be made with another government agency or government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC).

"To state the obvious, accused Chua is not a government agency or GOCC. Hence, the barter or exchange of properties between the Municipality of Bayambang and accused Chua, not being a recognized mode of disposal or divestment of property, is not valid," the court said.

However, the court said it cannot convict Camacho and Chua because the charge sheets did not allege irregularities, other than the variance in the properties' market values.

The irregularities established by evidence indeed resulted to unwarranted benefit on the part of Chua, since Camacho did not make a determination of the fair market value of the municipality's property before offering it for sale, it said.

It also said that Camacho likewise did not get the approval by the Commission on Audit (COA) before the execution of the Deed of Exchange. The transaction likewise did not comply with the requisites of Republic Act No. 7160 or the Local Government Code and its implementing rules and regulations, it added.

But the court said that Camacho cannot be convicted for giving unwarranted benefit to accused Chua through the foregoing irregularities as doing so would violate their right to be informed of the nature and causes of the accusation against them.

"The court cannot convict herein accused Camacho and accused Chua for acts or omissions that were not alleged and charged in the Information, even if such wrongful acts or omissions were established by evidence," the court said.

The 98-page decision was written by Sixth Division Chairperson Associate Justice Sarah Jane T. Fernandez with the concurrence of Associate Justices Kevin Narce B. Vivero and Karl B. Miranda.