FORMER Baliwag City mayor Carolina Dellosa has been convicted of graft by the Sandiganbayan Third Division in connection with an anomalous procurement of a service vehicle worth P1.2 million in 2014.
In a 35-page decision promulgated on March 3, 2023, the anti-graft court sentenced Dellosa to six to eight years imprisonment with perpetual disqualification from holding public office.
Associate Justice Ronald B. Moreno penned the ruling, with the concurrence of Associate Justice Bernelito R. Fernandez and Presiding Justice Amparo M. Cabotaje-Tang.
The information filed in 2019 alleged that Dellosa violated RA 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act by approving the purchase of a specific brand of vehicle, thereby giving “unwarranted benefit, advantage or preference” to distributor Freeway Motor Sales of Baliuag Corp.
Based on the documents presented by the prosecution, the accused signed documents specifying the intention to buy a “Mitsubishi ASX (Active Sports Crossover) with a 2.0L MIVEC DOHC 4811” engine.
While the defendant denied signing the Bids and Awards Committee Resolution No. 15 that named the brand, model, and engine displacement of the vehicle, the Sandiganbayan noted that she failed to prove that the signature affixed on the document was a forgery.
The court pointed out that the Revised Rules on Evidence placed the burden of proving a fake signature to the party who questions its authenticity.
Romeo Magcuro, senior document examiner from the National Bureau of Investigations, notified the court that he found “significant similarities in the handwriting characteristics and habits between the signature on the BAC Resolution and the specimen signature of the former mayor.”
“It is patently clear from the reading of the Resolution that the subject vehicle was procured with only the Mitsubishi brand in consideration, in violation of R.A. No. 9184,” the Sandiganbayan said.
