Ex-judge sentenced to 6 years for accepting P20,000 bribe

MANILA, Philippines - The Sandiganbayan has sentenced a former judge to a maximum of six years’ imprisonment for accepting a P20,000 bribe in exchange for a favorable ruling in a case he handled in 2003.

The Fifth Division of the Sandiganbayan said Henry Domingo, former municipal trial court judge of San Ildefonso, Bulacan, was guilty beyond reasonable doubt of indirect bribery under Article 211 of the Revised Penal Code.

Domingo argued that he was just set up, but the court said “the defense of frameup, just like denial and alibi, is looked with disfavor by the Supreme Court because it could be easily concocted.”

“To substantiate the claim, clear and convincing evidence must be presented,” the decision penned by Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang stated.

“The accused’s unsubstantiated denial cannot prevail over the totality of the prosecution’s evidence” that established with moral certainty the accused is guilty of the crime of indirect bribery,” it added.

Domingo was arrested on Feb. 17, 2003 during an entrapment conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation in a restaurant in Baliwag, Bulacan.

He was caught in possession of P10,000 cash and a P10,000 check he received from businessman Ildefenso Cuevas, who faced charges of falsification of public documents.

Domingo claimed Cuevas only wanted to get back at him for dismissing a case for violation of the Anti-Bouncing Check Law that the businessman filed.