THE Sandiganbayan yesterday convicted former Datu Unsay municipal mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. of 21 counts of graft in connection with anomalous procurement and ghost delivery of millions of pesos worth of fuel for infrastructure projects of Maguindanao province in 2008.
He was sentenced to six to 10 years imprisonment for each count, or a total of 126 to 210 years, with perpetual disqualification from holding any other government post.
He was also ordered to pay the provincial government of Maguindanao P44.184 million representing the cost of undelivered fuel subject to 6 percent annual interest computed from the finality of the decision until paid in full.
The verdict coincided with the date of the Maguindanao Massacre on Nov. 23, 2009 where armed men under the direction of the Ampatuans murdered 58 people including 32 journalists. The defendant is currently serving the penalty reclusion perpetua after he was found guilty of multiple murder together with his brother and several other co-accused.
In the corruption cases before the Sandiganbayan, the anti-graft court also convicted former provincial budget officer Datuali Abpi Al Haj of 19 counts of falsification of public documents and one count each of graft and malversation of public funds.
He was meted 114 years for falsification, 17 years for malversation, and 6 years for graft and ordered to pay Maguindanao the sum of P8.45 million by way of civil liability.
On the other hand, project engineer Samsudin Sema was convicted on three counts of falsification which earned him six to seven years imprisonment for each count and a P15,000 fine.
A second project engineer, Omar Camsa, was found guilty of one count of falsification and sentenced to six to seven years jail term and P5,000 fine.
The court ordered arrest warrants issued against three other accused who remain at large namely, former provincial accountant John Estelito Dollosa Jr., provincial treasurer Osmena Bandila, and project engineer Pendi Abpet.
Based on evidence presented during trial, accused Ampatuan Jr. was the owner of the Shariff Aguak Petron Station which was awarded the fuel supply contract in 2008 by the province under his father, the late Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr.
The transaction did not undergo the required public bidding.
While the fuel supplier billed Maguindanao and was paid for supposedly delivering 1.14 million liters of diesel during the year government auditors and prosecutors said the volume was impossible.
Petron Corp.’s record showed it delivered only 618,000 liters to the station for the whole year and it had an underground tank capacity of only 31,000 liters.
In convicting the defendants, the Sandiganbayan said their actions showed “a scheme to release public funds for purported purchases that were, at most, only partially delivered.”
“The acts of the accused can be characterized as having been done with evidence bad faith, or with palpably and patently fraudulent and dishonest purpose,” it added.
