Henry Jailores, a resident of General Espino street in Signal Village, Taguig, will now spend 17 years in jail for his practical joke.
He was meted the sentence Friday by the Pasig City Regional Trial Court for stealing a bus owned by his former employer, the Eastman Transportation Corp.
Judge Jesus Bersamira of RTC Branch 166 also ordered Jailores to pay the cost of legal proceedings.
Records showed that Jailores, who worked for the bus company for almost a year, was sacked on April 14, 1999 for drunkenness.
But six days after he was fired, Jailores decided to steal one of the company’s buses, then parked it somewhere else to cause his former company trouble.
The Isuzu passenger bus, with license plates PXP 999, was parked unattended in the company’s parking area at the FTI complex in Taguig when Jailores drove off with it at about 2:30 p. m.
Seven hours later the bus, minus its license plates, was recovered near a police outpost in Barangay San Dionisio in Parañaque City.
When Jailores got down from the bus, barangay tanod Rodel Corpuz, 29, had a clear look at the driver’s face.
Corpuz coordinated with the bus company and the bus was driven back to the parking lot in Taguig. Management showed Corpuz a photo gallery of their employees and Jailores was identified as the man who ditched the vehicle.
The driver denied the charges, saying he was at home attending to his children when the bus was reported stolen.
However, in his five-page decision, Judge Bersamira said "it is noteworthy that the accused residence is in Signal Village, Taguig, and it will only take 10 minutes’ ride on a tricycle (pedicab) to reach the FTI parking area where the subject bus was carnapped."
Jailores’ lawyer vowed to appeal Bersamira’s decision.