Ex-Pangasinan mayor gets 8-year jail term for graft

MANILA, Philippines - For spending P120,000 to purchase a single computer without a public bidding 16 years ago, the Sandiganbayan has sentenced a former town mayor of Pangasinan to a maximum of eight years in jail.

Former mayor Salvador Perez of San Manuel town was also slapped with the accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification from holding public office.

The Office of the Ombudsman said it successfully established during the trial that no public bidding was conducted in procuring the computer. 

Records show that the procurement was done through personal canvass in violation of Republic Act 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991.  

The anti-graft court found that procurement rules were not followed, as inconsistencies in documents showed that P120,000 was paid to Starlet Sales Center in Tondo, Manila while the purchase order was issued to Mobile Link Enterprises in Mandaluyong City.

The criminal liability of Perez’s co-accused, former municipal treasurer Juanita Apostol, is extinguished due to her death in 2011.