Zambo Sibugay mayor gets 6 to 8 years for excessive calamity aid to kin

The Sandiganbayan has sentenced Naga, Zamboanga Sibugay Mayor Gemma Adana to six to eights years imprisonment after finding her guilty of graft for granting excessive cash assistance to her husband and sister using the town's calamity fund.

In a 32-page decision, the Sixth Division convicted Adana for violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and also perpetually disqualified her from holding public office.

"The prosecution was able to prove beyond reasonable doubt all the elements of violation of Section 3(e) of R.A. No. 3019 committed by accused Adana," the decision read.

The case stemmed from the P45,000 and P40,000 worth of financial aid received by Adana's husband, Edgar, and her sister, Emma Aranas, respectively, on September 30, 2007.

The amount exceeded the allowable cash assistance of P10,000 for each calamity victim under government rules.

Adana argued that she was not involved in the preparation of the master list of calamity victims and in identifying the potential beneficiaries.

She instead blamed then-social welfare and development officer Isabel Tabamo, whom she said was the person in charge of ocular inspections, damage assessment, and preparation of the list of beneficiaries.

Tabamo, however, was no longer available to testify in court as she has already died.

Nonetheless, the Sandiganbayan said Adana had the "ultimate responsibility" of overseeing the approval and release of government funds, including the payment of financial assistance to calamity victims.

The Sandiganbayan said the disbursement of funds would be impossible without the signature of Adana, who opted to skip testifying in her defense. 

"The Court finds accused Adana's act of allowing the payment of financial assistance to her own husband and sister in amounts evidently higher than those received by other calamity victims who were similarly situated, as clear proof evident bad faith and manifest partiality in the exercise of her position as the highest ranking public official," the court said.

Associate Justice Karl Miranda penned the decision, with the concurrence of Associate Justices Sarah Jane Fernandez and Michael Frederick Musngi.

Adana was held captive by the Abu Sayyaf group in 2015.  —KBK, GMA News