Sandiganbayan convicts former Manila assistant prosecutor

The Sandiganbayan has convicted yesterday a former assistant city prosecutor of Manila for direct bribery.

The graft court’s third division sentenced Ronaldo Hubilla, former assistant city prosecutor of Manila, to three years and six months imprisonment.

Hubilla was also ordered to pay a fine of P60,000.

The court, however, acquitted Hubilla on a separate graft charge for lack of evidence to sustain a conviction.

In an 18-page decision penned by Associate Justice Norberto Geraldez, the Sandiganbayan said the evidence presented by the prosecution clearly established Hubilla’s culpability for extortion, particularly as he was caught in "flagrante delicto" after receiving marked money from private complainant Lorinda De Vera-Ang.

Ang had sought the help of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Camp Crame after Hubilla demanded P30,000 from her when she went to the latter’s office to check on the status of an attempted homicide complaint filed by her husband.

Ang said Hubilla told her that the case will be downgraded to grave threats if she fails to pay what the accused had demanded of her.

The CIDG Laboratory prepared a bundle of "boodle money" for an entrapment operation.