Davao Sur mayor convicted of graft

MANILA, Philippines - The Sandiganbayan has sentenced a town mayor of Davao del Sur to a maximum of 10 years in jail for purchasing a generator worth more than P1.6 million that later proved to be useless.

The anti-graft court’s Fifth Division, in a 24-page ruling, also slapped Jose Abad Santos, Davao del Sur Mayor Jose Reyes Lachica with perpetual disqualification from public office.

The Sandiganabayan found him guilty of violating Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act which penalizes causing undue injury to the government.

The graft case against him stemmed from the direct purchase of a Komatsu diesel generator from Marubeni Corp., a foreign corporation based in Singapore nine years ago.

The machine valued at P1,694,787.30 was supposed to supply electricity to the Municipal Hall of Jose Abad Santos but it was never used because its features were found to be incompatible with the building’s existing electrical wirings.

The Office of the Ombudsman filed charges against Lachica for making the purchase without the conduct of a technical engineering study or a project design to determine its viability.

The Sandiganbayan said the municipal chief executive acted “recklessly and in utter disregard of the consequences of procuring the generator set.”

“Hence, the generator set has not been put to use since its acquisition due to the generator’s wiring, thereby resulting in the wastage of public funds, to the damage and prejudice of the municipal government of Jose Abad Santos in the aforesaid sum of P1,694,787.30,” the anti-graft court said.