For failing to return gun, Sandigan convicts ex-gov

MANILA, Philippines - For not returning a government-issued handgun, a magazine for a pistol and seven bullets all worth only P7,462, the Sandiganbayan has sentenced a former governor of Camarines Norte to a maximum jail term of four years and two months.

Former governor Casimiro Padilla Jr. was also ordered to pay P200 fine and P200 in damages to the Philippine National Police (PNP) with interest, and was slapped with the accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification from public office.

In a 31-page decision, the Sandiganbayan’s First Division chaired by Associate Justice Efren de la Cruz said prosecutors of the Office of the Ombudsman were able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Padilla failed to account for a .45-caliber Colt pistol, a magazine, and seven rounds of ammunition issued to him before he stepped down from office in 1998.

The case against Padilla was handled by Director Diosdado Calonge, who is now handling the plunder case against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and Assistant Special Prosecutor 2 Rose Gidget Duque.

Padilla had claimed that he did return the firearm. However, it was established that what Padilla returned to the PNP was a different gun, a locally made pistol known as “paltik.”

“That being so, there was really no compliance to speak of and the obligation to return the same firearm has not yet been fulfilled. Truly it was not the proper accounting expected from public officers given the custody of government property,” the anti-graft court ruled.

The Sandiganbayan said an accountable public officer may be convicted of malversation even if there is no direct evidence of misappropriation, and the only evidence is that there is a shortage in his accounts which he has failed to satisfactorily explain.