The Sandiganbayan has found former Quirino governor Josie Castillo-Co guilty of graft for anomalies in the purchase of heavy equipment in 1996.
The anti-graft court’s second special division sentenced Co to a jail term of six years to nine years and ordered her to pay the provincial government P330,490.78, the interest paid for the advance payment to the Japanese supplier of the equipment worth P43.5 million.
The Sandiganbayan also imposed a lifetime prohibition against Co from holding any elective or appointive public position.
In a 13-page decision penned by Associate Justice Francisco Villaruz Jr., the court ruled that Co violated Section 3-G of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for the overprice in the purchase of reconditioned heavy equipment.
The Quirino provincial board approved the purchase of brand new equipment, but the provincial government signed a contract with Japan’s Nakajima Trading Corp. on Jan. 11, 1996 for second-hand equipment like bulldozer, backhoe, road grader, water tank, dump truck and a 10-wheeler trailer truck.
The anti-graft court also ruled that Co violated Section 338 of the Local Government Code when she agreed to pay 40 percent in advance to the contractor amounting to 62 million yen or P15 million.
It junked Co’s defense that the equipment purchase was done in good faith.
The court added that her claim that the payment of a 40 percent advance to the supplier was needed for delivery had no basis since the supply contract had no such provision.