MANILA – The Sandiganbayan anti-graft court on Friday found four individuals guilty for the falsification of a construction project in Bataan in 2004.
In a 38-page decision written by Associate Justice Efren Dela Cruz, the Sandiganbayan sentenced Provincial Engineer Amelia De Pano, Assistant Provincial Engineer Angelito Rodriguez, field engineer Noel Jimenez, and architect Bernard Capistrano III to up to eight years in prison.
The four were convicted for falsely making it appear that the construction of a mini-theater at the Bataan State College satellite campus in Abucay town has been completed and fully accomplished in accordance with the plans and specifications.
Funding for the project amounted to PHP3.66 million.
Sought for documentation, the four claimed the project was completed but a Commission on Audit inspection later on found the structure was only 50-percent done.
The accused were ordered to pay the province PHP1.65 million, representing the damage sustained as a result of their act.
The tribunal said the circumstances of the case “reveals the criminal intention of the accused to defraud the province through their collective misrepresentation of the status of the mini-theater project
Source: Philippines News Agency