3 ex-town mayors found guilty of graft

MANILA, Philippines - All in one day, the Sandiganbayan recently found three former municipal mayors guilty of graft and malversation for misusing government funds.

Former Kayapa, Nueva Vizcaya mayor Tony Dupiano was sentenced to a maximum of 18 years in jail, six for each of three counts of graft that he was found guilty of.

One of the cases against him stemmed from how he used P27,055 in public funds for the repair of his own vehicle in January 1999.

The Sandiganbayan’s First Division also found him guilty of paying P152,949.19 for ghost deliveries of construction supplies in June 1999 and of using three truckloads of gravel and sand bought using government money for his house.

Former Bacolod, Lanao del Norte mayor Warlino Relova and his former municipal treasurer Saturnino Burgos were also found guilty of two counts of graft and sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in jail.

The case against them stemmed from how they allegedly overpaid a contractor of a so-called spring development project in the amount of P153,799.90 and released P27,322 for a non-existent water supply project.

Former Lilo-an, Southern Leyte mayor Zenaida Maamo, meanwhile, was found liable for mishandling government finances and was sentenced to a maximum of 12 years in jail.

The Sandiganbayan’s Second Division found her guilty of collecting the salaries of ghost employees from July 1997 to March 1998 by falsifying the payroll.  – With Charlie Lagasca