MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan has sentenced a former town mayor in Leyte to a maximum of eight years in prison for corruption.
Charita Chan of Babat-ngon town was also perpetually disqualified from holding public office, the anti-graft court’s fifth division said in a decision penned by Associate Justice Maryanne Corpus-Mañalac and released yesterday.
The Sandiganbayan said Chan was found guilty of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act when she issued a permit to the Liga ng mga Barangay to hold cockfights in the town in 2012.
The court said the group is a juridical entity and should not be given a permit to hold cockfights.
The holding of cockfights on weekends is prohibited under Presidential 449 or the Cockfighting Law and an existing ordinance of the municipality, the court said.