Sandiganbayan imposes longer jail time on Manila traffic enforcer for ‘kotong’

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OUT of the frying pan and into the fire.

Filing an appeal on his conviction for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA 3019) turned out to be a bad move for a former Manila traffic enforcer after the Sandiganbayan imposed a longer jail term against him.

Defendant Joselito Garcia, a former officer of the Manila Traffic and Parking Bureau (MTPB), got the anti-graft court to set aside his graft conviction but it pronounced him guilty of direct bribery for collecting cash from a trucking firm in exchange for protecting it from getting tickets.

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Instead of his original sentence of one to five years imprisonment imposed by the Manila Regional Trial Court, the accused-appellant is now facing 20 months to five years and five months in the slammer.

Garcia was also ordered to pay a fine equivalent to three times the monetary consideration of P27,000 or P81,000.

The 32-page Sandiganbayan resolution was penned by Associate Justice Juliet M. Manalo-San Gaspar. Associate Justices Maria Theresa V. Mendoza Arcega and Bayani H. Jacinto concurred.

According to case records, Garcia was collared by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on February 21, 2020 in an entrapment operation at the office of the Iacino Transport in Binondo, Manila after receiving marked money from the trucking firm’s secretary.

The entrapment was conducted at the request of Salvador Jecino, the owner of Iacino Transport, who told investigators that Garcia has been demanding and collecting P1,500 monthly for each one of his 18 trucks, or a total of P27,000.

Jecino said the sum was for a supposed protection racket wherein Garcia assured him that his trucks would be exempted from apprehension from traffic violations.

The Sandiganbayan said there was no contract or transaction involved in the act of Garcia in protecting Iacino Transport trucks from apprehension hence there was no basis to hold him criminally liable for the violation of Section 3 (b) of RA 3019.

However, it found that the evidence on record was sufficient to hold Garcia liable for the criminal offense of direct bribery defined under Article 210 of the Revised Penal Code.

The court pointed out that the defendant is a public officer being a traffic enforcer, that he demanded a sum of money and received it, and that he protected the complainant’s trucks from the enforcement of traffic laws.

“All told, …all the elements for the crime of direct bribery were sufficiently established by the prosecution beyond reasonable doubt,” the Sandiganbayan said.

However, the anti-graft court modified the accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification from public office to temporary disqualification.

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