Prosecutor guilty of bribery

MANILA, Philippines – Finding him guilty of the crime of direct bribery, the Sandiganbayan has sentenced an assistant provincial prosecutor of Lianga, Surigao del Sur to a maximum of four years in jail.

Lawyer Teofilo Manuel Jr. was ordered to pay P12,000 which is double the amount that he asked for in exchange for actually doing his job in court.

Records of the case show that the criminal case against him stemmed from a complaint filed by Remedios Maloboco.

She said her father filed an estafa case against a certain Alfredo Bandibas before the Prosecutor’s Office in Lianga, Suriago del Sur, which was eventually handled by Manuel.

After preliminary investigation, the prosecutor recommended the filing of the information for estafa before the regional trial court of Lianga.

When Bandibas filed a motion to defer proceedings, Maloboco said she requested Manuel to draft a reply but Manuel initially refused before he eventually asked for P6,000 to do the job.

The complainant then sought the help of National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) operatives who conducted an entrapment operation against the prosecutor at a fastfood restaurant in Butuan City.

During trial, government lawyers of the Office of the Ombudsman led by Assistant Special Prosecutor II Myla Trinidad-Radoc presented as witnesses the private complainant herself.

The NBI agents who conducted the entrapment operation and arrested Manuel also testified and presented the marked money amounting to P6,000 consisting of 12 pieces of P500 bills.

In a 14-page decision, the Sandiganbayan First Division, despite Manuel’s denials, found the latter guilty of the crime charged. 

The ruling said “the prosecution was able to prove all the foregoing elements of the crime of Direct Bribery” as defined under Article 210 of the Revised Penal Code.