FORMER Pozzorubio, Pangasinan mayor Artemio Que Chan has been sentenced by the Sandiganbayan to serve time in jail for falsely certifying that he was the one who solemnized the wedding of a couple in 2015 even if it was in fact the vice mayor who officiated the ceremony.
In a 44-page decision issued last August 26, the Seventh Division held Chan guilty of falsification of public document penalized under Article 171 paragraph 2 of the Revised penal Code.
He was sentenced to imprisonment of two years and four months to eight years with temporary disqualification from public office and perpetual disqualification from the right of suffrage.
The anti-graft court also ordered him to pay a fine of P5,000.
Associate Justice Ma. Theresa Dolores C. Gomez-Estoesta penned the ruling, with Associate Justices Zaldy V. Trespeses and Georgina D. Hidalgo concurring.
Case records showed the complainant couple appeared at the municipal hall off Pozzorubio on March 26, 2015 for their wedding to be solemnized by the accused.
Based on testimonies and photos presented by the prosecution during trial, it was established that the mayor’s son, then vice mayor Kelvin Tong Chan, was the one who did the job but the defendant signed the marriage certificate as the supposed solemnizing officer.
However, two sponsors of the couple executed a joint affidavit attesting that it was the mayor’s son who officiated and had announced that he was authorized by the mayor to stand in as his representative.
Testifying in his own defense, Chan claimed he was the one who solemnized the wedding but that he had to leave in a hurry to attend to his ailing mother who was then 94 years old.
He accused the two witnesses of fabricating their testimony, alleging that neither was present on the date of the event.
The court, however, poked holes in Chan’s defense, noting that the Certificate of Marriage necessarily contradicted his statements since he certified that he signed the document “in the presence of all the witnesses” whose names and signatures appeared on it.
“Had Accused truly solemnized the marriage before all the guests, relatives, and principal sponsors came in, he should have, at least, still listed the names of the actual sponsors who stood by the wedding ceremony,” the Sandiganbayan pointed out.
Likewise, while the defendant claimed that he was assisted by two members of his own staff during the ceremony, he failed to put either one on the witness stand to support his statements.
“They could have testified that the Accused personally solemnized the marriage. Unfortunately, he could not even remember their full names,” the court noted.
While the couple who initiated the complaint failed to appear in court during trial, the Sandiganbayan said the prosecution had presented enough evidence to prove the guilt of the accused.
Ironically, the accused himself provided one key piece of evidence against himself through his counter-affidavit submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman where he admitted that it was vice mayor Chan, his son, who solemnized the marriage in good faith.
Even if he later tried to brush the affidavit aside by saying he was not able to read the document thoroughly before signing and filing, the court said he is bound by his own words.
“Admissions made under oath are given great weight against the affiant. These affidavits before the Office of the Ombudsman were also voluntarily signed and submitted by the Accused. Hence, he could not simply brush off its contents,” the Sandiganbayan said.
