Sandiganbayan finds former Bohol mayor guilty of criminal charges
By AJ Siytangco
Published Oct 21, 2019 03:53 pm
By Czarina Nicole Ong Ki
The Sandiganbayan has convicted former Corella Mayor Vito Rapal of Bohol of four out of six of his criminal charges due to the mishandling of public funds.
Sandiganbayan (MANILA BULLETIN)
Rapal was sentenced to six years and one month minimum imprisonment to a maximum of 10 years for each of his two graft charges. He was likewise ordered to pay back the municipality with P92,239.70 and P1,088,252.20, with legal interest of six percent per annum from finality of the decision until fully paid.
For his estafa charge, he was sentenced to suffer the penalty of imprisonment for an indeterminate period of two months of arresto mayor as minimum to one year and one day of prision correccional as maximum.
Finally, for his failure to render account charge, he was sentenced to six months of arresto mayor as minimum to one year, eight months and 20 days of prision correccional as maximum. He is also ordered to pay a fine of P40,000.
Meanwhile, he was acquitted of his graft and malversation charges due to the failure of the prosecution to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
Rapal was initially slapped with three violations of Section 3(e) of R.A. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code also known as Malversation, Article 315 paragraph (1)(b) of the Revised Penal Code of Estafa, and Articles 218 of the Revised Penal Code or Failure of Accountable Officer to Render Accounts
The first graft charge is for Rapal's decision to convert to his own personal use and benefit the cash advances intended for the payment of his phone bills, which amounted to P10,261.58 on August 4, 2004.
On October 22, 2008 to June 15, 2009, Rapal once again converted to his personal use the amount of P92,239.70, which represented the 40 percent share of Corella in its joint undertaking with the Philippine Tarsier Foundation Inc. for the operation of the Philippine Tarsier and Wildlife Sanctuary. This represented the second graft charge as well as the estafa charge.
Then from July 23, 2004 to June 23, 2010, Rapal failed to account for his cash advances intended for Intelligence and Confidential Funds worth P1,088,252.20. This accounted for his third graft charge and failure to render account charge.
Lastly, for his malversation charge, Rapal deliberately misappropriated P10,261.58, which represented the amount of cash advances disallowed by the Commission on Audit (COA) from August 4, 2004 to March 16, 2006 for having been incurred as a result of international text messages and calls, game downloads, and passage of load - which are considered personal in nature.
In its 60-page ruling, the anti-graft court pinned him down for two graft charges, estafa, and failure to render accounts.
Rapal's main defense for these charges is denial. He claimed that the documents - Tourism Officer Maria Asuncion Pandan's Report on Income and secretary Celerina Varquez's Summary of Collections - proving that the remittance of money was received by him are not conclusive evidence, because he merely "noted" these.
This means that he only saw the report of the amounts that were received and transmitted to the municipal treasurer.
However, the anti-graft court was not persuaded. "Denial is a self-serving negative evidence that cannot be given greater weight than the declaration of credible witnesses who testified on affirmative matters," the court ruled.
"Furthermore, Rapal failed to ascribe any ill-motive on the part of Varquez and Pandan for testifying against him," it added.
On the other hand, Rapal was cleared of his graft and malversation charge because he was able to make a partial refund of P2,000 in order to pay for P1,325 worth of game downloads.
The anti-graft court said there is no amount of interpretation or argumentation that can place his act of downloading a game as within the ambit of his official duties as mayor. But since he paid for the personal games he download, the court ruled there is no undue injury against the government.
At the same time, Rapal reasoned that the international calls and text messages were not personal in nature, and his position as a local chief executive required him to be on call 24/7.
"The court...agrees with Rapal's contention that his position as local chief executive is a 24-hour job hence any phone call or text message he made within those 24 hours should be presumed to be connected with his job," the decision stated.
The 60-page decision was penned by Associate Justice Alex Quiroz with the concurrence of Associate Justices Reynaldo Cruz and Bayani Jacinto.
Sandiganbayan (MANILA BULLETIN)
Rapal was sentenced to six years and one month minimum imprisonment to a maximum of 10 years for each of his two graft charges. He was likewise ordered to pay back the municipality with P92,239.70 and P1,088,252.20, with legal interest of six percent per annum from finality of the decision until fully paid.
For his estafa charge, he was sentenced to suffer the penalty of imprisonment for an indeterminate period of two months of arresto mayor as minimum to one year and one day of prision correccional as maximum.
Finally, for his failure to render account charge, he was sentenced to six months of arresto mayor as minimum to one year, eight months and 20 days of prision correccional as maximum. He is also ordered to pay a fine of P40,000.
Meanwhile, he was acquitted of his graft and malversation charges due to the failure of the prosecution to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
Rapal was initially slapped with three violations of Section 3(e) of R.A. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code also known as Malversation, Article 315 paragraph (1)(b) of the Revised Penal Code of Estafa, and Articles 218 of the Revised Penal Code or Failure of Accountable Officer to Render Accounts
The first graft charge is for Rapal's decision to convert to his own personal use and benefit the cash advances intended for the payment of his phone bills, which amounted to P10,261.58 on August 4, 2004.
On October 22, 2008 to June 15, 2009, Rapal once again converted to his personal use the amount of P92,239.70, which represented the 40 percent share of Corella in its joint undertaking with the Philippine Tarsier Foundation Inc. for the operation of the Philippine Tarsier and Wildlife Sanctuary. This represented the second graft charge as well as the estafa charge.
Then from July 23, 2004 to June 23, 2010, Rapal failed to account for his cash advances intended for Intelligence and Confidential Funds worth P1,088,252.20. This accounted for his third graft charge and failure to render account charge.
Lastly, for his malversation charge, Rapal deliberately misappropriated P10,261.58, which represented the amount of cash advances disallowed by the Commission on Audit (COA) from August 4, 2004 to March 16, 2006 for having been incurred as a result of international text messages and calls, game downloads, and passage of load - which are considered personal in nature.
In its 60-page ruling, the anti-graft court pinned him down for two graft charges, estafa, and failure to render accounts.
Rapal's main defense for these charges is denial. He claimed that the documents - Tourism Officer Maria Asuncion Pandan's Report on Income and secretary Celerina Varquez's Summary of Collections - proving that the remittance of money was received by him are not conclusive evidence, because he merely "noted" these.
This means that he only saw the report of the amounts that were received and transmitted to the municipal treasurer.
However, the anti-graft court was not persuaded. "Denial is a self-serving negative evidence that cannot be given greater weight than the declaration of credible witnesses who testified on affirmative matters," the court ruled.
"Furthermore, Rapal failed to ascribe any ill-motive on the part of Varquez and Pandan for testifying against him," it added.
On the other hand, Rapal was cleared of his graft and malversation charge because he was able to make a partial refund of P2,000 in order to pay for P1,325 worth of game downloads.
The anti-graft court said there is no amount of interpretation or argumentation that can place his act of downloading a game as within the ambit of his official duties as mayor. But since he paid for the personal games he download, the court ruled there is no undue injury against the government.
At the same time, Rapal reasoned that the international calls and text messages were not personal in nature, and his position as a local chief executive required him to be on call 24/7.
"The court...agrees with Rapal's contention that his position as local chief executive is a 24-hour job hence any phone call or text message he made within those 24 hours should be presumed to be connected with his job," the decision stated.
The 60-page decision was penned by Associate Justice Alex Quiroz with the concurrence of Associate Justices Reynaldo Cruz and Bayani Jacinto.