Ex-Leyte mayor gets 10 years for catering deal

MANILA, Philippines - The Sandiganbayan has sentenced a former town mayor of Southern Leyte to up to 10 years in prison for awarding a catering contract of the municipality to a business she owned.

It was “highly irregular” for a municipal mayor to approve a contracting service in favor of a business she owned and operated, according to a decision penned by Associate Justice Ma. Theresa Dolores Gomez-Estoesta of the Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division and promulgated on Sept. 22.

The Office of the Ombudsman said former Lilo-an mayor Zenaida Maamo awarded a catering contract to Niña’s Eatery and Lodging House during a visit of former President Fidel Ramos in 1995.

Prosecutors established that Maamo owned the eatery that bagged the catering contract amounting to P87,000. The catering business was listed in Maamo’s statements of assets, liabilities and net worth from 1996 to 1999.

Documents presented during the trial showed that Maamo signed the purchase request and purchase order.

The ombudsman said Section 3 (h) of Republic Act 3019 prohibits public officials from having any business, contract or transaction with the government  in which he either intervenes or takes part in his official capacity. – With Lalaine Jimenea