Ex-mayor gets 20 years over vehicle donation

MANILA, Philippines -  The former mayor of Angeles City in Pampanga was sentenced to up to 20 years in prison for donating a vehicle  to a non-government organization (NGO).

In a 26-page resolution released yesterday, the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division found Francis Nepomuceno and Abelardo Pamintuan Jr., president of the Kapanalig Angeles City Inc., guilty of two counts of graft.

The prosecution was able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Nepomuceno gave “unwarranted benefit, advantage and preference” to Kapanalig when it donated the service vehicle of the city government, a Mitsubishi Adventure, valued at P786,000 in June 2010, the resolution stated.

“The donation accepted by Kapanalig…is without justification because the donation of a...motor vehicle which is still in use by the city government is not allowed,” the ruling penned by Associate Justice Reynaldo Cruz read. ”It could have been sold at a public auction or transferred to another government agency.”

In filing the case in 2014, the Office of the Ombudsman said the donation of the vehicle violated the Local Government Code, noting that Kapanalig is not a government entity.

The vehicle was donated despite the city government’s “poor financial condition,” graft probers said.

The court also noted the “hasty manner” in donating the vehicle.