Ex-Angeles City mayor gets 12 years for illegal donation to NGO

MANILA, Philippines – The anti-graft court Sandiganbayan has convicted former Angeles City mayor Francis Nepomuceno and the head of a non-governmental organization of two counts of graft over the unlawful donation of a city-owned service vehicle to an NGO in 2010.

In a 26-page decision penned by Associate Justice Reynaldo Cruz, the Sandiganbayan’s Fourth Division found Nepomuceno guilty of giving unwarranted benefit to Kapanalig Angeles City, and of binding the city government to a grossly disadvantageous transaction concerning the donation of a Mitsubishi Adventure owned by Angeles City to the NGO.

Abelardo Pamintuan Jr, president of Kapanalig Angeles City, was convicted of two counts of graft for receiving the motor vehicle in behalf of Kapanalig.

Cruz and Pamintuan were both given jail terms of 6 to 10 years for each case, totalling 12 to 20 years of imprisonment.

The court said in its decision: “This Court observes that there is ample evidence to show that Kapanalig Inc…received unwarranted benefits, advantage and preference when the assailed donation was accepted. The donation…is without justification because a motor vehicle which is still in use by the city government is not allowed.” 

Associate Justices Alex Quiroz and Geraldine Faith Econg concurred, noting Nepomuceno’s actions showed partiality and bad faith, and a “hasty manner in which the donation was executed.”

“As soon as he found out that there was an available motor vehicle, (accused Nepomuceno) immediately set in motion the processing of the donation by giving instructions to the City Administrator to make the necessary request from the City Council to authorize him to execute the said donation,” the court said.

“Nepomuceno was in breach of his mandated duty to enforce all laws relative to the governance of the city,” it added. – Rappler.com