Ex-Misamis governor gets 10 years in jail for graft

MANILA, Philippines - For using government resources to repair a road leading to his farm outside the territorial jurisdiction of his province, the Sandiganbayan has sentenced a former governor of Misamis Oriental to a maximum of 10 years in jail for graft.

The Office of the Ombudsman took credit for the conviction of former governor Antonio Padilla Calingin through Ombudsman lawyers Maribel Beltran and Generezo Plazo of the Office of the Special Prosecutor.

In a 28-page decision penned by Associate Justice Oscar Herrera Jr., the anti-graft court found Calingin guilty of violating provisions of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Sandiganbayan Second Division chairperson Teresita Diaz Baldos and Associate Justice Napoleon Inoturan concurred with the ruling, which also slapped Calingin with the accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification from holding public office.

Records show that in November 2003, Calingin gave “unwarranted benefits” to Grain Resources Development Corp., a private firm owned by his immediate family located in Poblacion, Claveria, Misamis Oriental, by utilizing heavy equipment and manpower of the provincial government free of charge in the repair, construction and rehabilitation of a road in San Miguel, Talakag, Bukidnon which led to a farm being managed and developed by the company.

The Office of the Ombudsman, through the OSP as its prosecutorial arm, was able to prove during the trial that Calingin personally instructed his subordinates to supervise the “project.”

In its ruling, the Sandiganbayan said, “The unauthorized deployment and utilization of the resources and manpower of the provincial government outside its jurisdiction and for purposes other than for which they are intended cause unnecessary, illegal and improper wrong or damage constituting undue injury.”