Ex-mayor gets 24 years over market project

MANILA, Philippines - Former Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo mayor Pedro Hautea and former municipal engineer Norman Lustria have been sentenced to a maximum of 24 years in prison.

In a 42-page decision released by the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division yesterday, Hautea and Lustria were found guilty of three counts each of falsification of public documents in connection with a market project. The officials were also perpetually disqualified from holding public office and directed to pay a fine of P15,000 each.

The anti-graft court said the prosecution proved that Hautea and Lustria falsified a project status report declaring that a mini-market in Barangay Tinorian was 100 percent complete on Dec. 31, 2000 when the construction had not started.

The court said the officials falsified the time book and payroll to make it appear that salaries and benefits amounting to P20,780 were paid to construction workers.

Former barangay chairman Manuel Siaotong was sentenced to up to eight years in prison for signing the document acknowledging the turnover and custody of the project.

The court said the construction of the market began sometime in September 2011, but it was never completed.