MANILA, Philippines — Former mayor Isarme Bosque of Polillo, Quezon has been sentenced to up to 10 years in prison over the illegal purchase of a parcel of land in 2005.
In a 24-page decision promulgated on July 12 and released yesterday, the Sandiganbayan’s Second Division said Bosque was found guilty of violating Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
The anti-graft court also ordered Bosque’s perpetual disqualification from holding public office and and the payment of a fine of P411,000 equivalent to the amount of public funds spent for the purchase of the land.
Bosque’s co-acccused, former municipal treasurer Carmelita Marasigan and former municipal assessor Samson Ayapana, were cleared of the charges.
The court said Marasigan and Ayapana’s participation was only as signatories in the deed of sale as witnesses.
Filed by the Office of the Ombudsman in September 2014, the case stemmed from the municipal government’s purchase of a 3.36-hectare land from spouses Jessie and Valeriana Tiu in Barangay Libjo without approval from the Sangguniang Bayan and despite lack of a feasibility study. The land was set to be used for a low-cost housing project, a municipal cemetery and a dump.
Graft probers said only a hectare of the land was suitable for the intended project as the rest was swampy or a mangrove area.
In convicting Bosque, the court gave weight to a legislative council resolution dated April 3, 2006, requesting him not to proceed with the purchase of the land.
The court also cited the testimony of former municipal planning and development coordinator and zoning administrator Amebel Azagra, who said her office was not informed of the purchase and only learned about it from the Tiu family.
It also noted that the land belonged to the state as certified by the Land Registration Authority.
“The vendors... have neither right nor authority to convey the land to the municipality or to any person or entity because the title has been divested from them as early as 1972... the transfer of certificate of title was ordered cancelled in favor of the Republic of the Philippines,” the court said.