Batangas mayor gets 6-10 years for graft

The Sandiganbayan has found Mayor Randy James Amo of Laurel, Batangas, guilty of graft for withholding the salary and benefits of the town's league of barangay president due to his non-affiliation with his political party.

In a 40-page decision dated September 24, the First Division convicted Amo for one count of violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and sentenced him to a prison sentence of six to 10 years.

The verdict against Amo also comes with the accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification from holding public office.

Ombudsman prosecutors had accused Amo of irregularly appointing his co-accused and then-Barangay Poblacion 3 chairman Severino Endaya Jr., who was also convicted of graft, as the new president of the Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) of the municipality.

The appointment comes after Amo removed and withheld the salary of incumbent ABC president Eusebio Bilog. The election of Endaya also violated the rules of the Liga ng mga Barangay sa Pilipinas.

Based on the records, then-vice president Bilog immediately assumed office following the death of ABC president Cantucan Carsocho in April 2012.

Amo, however, claimed he chose to withhold the salary of Bilog after receiving a manifesto from the town's Liga ng mga Barangay requesting for an election of a new president.

Amo said he was unaware that Bilog already took over the role of Carsocho, but kept the salaries in the municipal treasury pending updates from the Department of the Interior and Local Government on what could be his next move.

On the other hand, Endaya said he was elected as ABC president in November 2012 after 11 barangay chairpersons, including himself, called for an election due to Bilog's inability to perform his duties.

The Sandiganbayan said it found that there were already efforts to remove Bilog from office four days after the death of Carsocho when the 11 village chiefs urged the conduct of a new election, which was concurred by Amo.

The Sandiganbayan said Amo should have distanced himself from the leadership dispute that has been a political issue due to Bilog's non-affiliation with his political faction.

"Meddling with the affairs of the Liga to suit his political agenda, supporting the manifesto to hold an election thereby showing complicity in the removal of Bilog as president, and later on unjustly depriving Bilog of his salary and other benefits constitute evident bad faith and/or gross inexcusable negligence on the part of the accused mayor," the court said.

Incidentally, the Sandiganbayan said the barangay chairpersons who wanted to hold a new election were the same people who were consistently absent during ABC proceedings.

It said this action from Endaya and his 10 other colleagues “crippled and undermined the leadership of Bilog by deliberately absenting themselves from the regular sessions, thereby resulting in a lack of quorum.”

The Sandiganbayan further said Bilog has yet to receive his withheld salary and other benefits from November 2012 to November 2013 when his term as ABC president expired. —KBK, GMA News