Author Topic: Pedro Budiongan Acquitted by Sandiganbayan Court  (Read 2685 times)

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Pedro Budiongan Acquitted by Sandiganbayan Court
« on: April 17, 2010, 10:23:56 AM »
By Bohol Chronicle

"Where there is reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the accused, he must be acquitted even though his innocence may be doubted since the constitutional right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty can be overthrown only by proof of reasonable doubt."

This was the aptly-worded conclusion highlighting the 35-page Decision of the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division, promulgated on March 23, 2010, which cleared former Carmen mayor Pedro Budiongan of another graft complaint, the second of three, filed against him.

Budiongan was charged for violating Section 3(h) of R.A. 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, for having financially benefited in a business transaction between the Municipality of Carmen and local construction firm YY Home Builders Depot which supplied materials used in the rip-rapping works of the Tan Modesto Bernaldez Street, of said town amounting P34,800 sometime in April to June 2002.

This was the second in a series of graft complaints lodged against Budiongan and several other Carmen officials including Board Member Josil Trabajo, who was then the municipal vice mayor. In all three complaints, the respondent-public officials are represented by Atty. Alexander Lim of the Trabajo-Lim Law Office and Atty. Jovito A. Coresis, Jr.

In November 2009, the graft court acquitted Budiongan, Trabajo and eight other municipal officials in one of the three cases involving another road improvement project in Carmen.

In the original complaint, then municipal councilor Arlene Palgan, accused Budiongan of having a financial and pecuniary interest in the municipal government's purchase of supplies and materials from YY Home Builders Depot, which the mayor allegedly used as a dummy for the said transaction.

Budiongan, in his official capacity as municipal mayor, supposedly intervened or took part of the business transaction, by way of approving the award of the contract to supply construction materials to YY Home Builders Depot and subsequently approving the disbursement voucher for the payment of said supplies and materials in the amount of P34,800 out of the municipal government's funds.         

In its Decision, the Sandiganbayan said that after careful evaluation of the evidence on record, it finds "no sufficient evidence that the accused (Budiongan) has a direct or indirect financial or pecuniary interest in the business transaction between the Municipality of Carmen and YY Home Builders Depot."

According to the court, in order to secure the conviction of the accused for the offense charged, it must be proved beyond reasonable doubt that the following elements are present: (a) that the accused is a public officer; (b) that he has a direct or indirect financial or pecuniary interest in any business or transaction; and (c) that he intervenes or takes part in his official capacity in connection with his direct or indirect financial or pecuniary interest in such business, contract or transaction.

The Decision penned by Associate Justice Gregory Ong and concurred by Associate Justices Jose Hernandez and Samuel Martires, stated that "the second and third elements of the offense charged have not been duly established beyond reasonable doubt."

The graft court said that there is no dispute that the prosecution has proven its allegation that the Municipality of Carmen entered into a business transaction with YY Home Builders Depot, where the municipality purchased from said company construction supplies and materials amounting P34,800 that were used for the rip-rapping of Tan Modesto Bernaldez Street.

"However, to establish the second element of the offense charged, the prosecution is also required to prove beyond reasonable doubt its concomitant allegation in the information that the accused used YY Home Builders Depot as mere dummy in said business transaction in order to collect from the municipality the amount of P34,800 as payment for said supplies and materials," the Sandiganbayan ruling continued.

The court decision explained that unless the prosecution proves beyond reasonable doubt that YY Home Builders Depot was merely a dummy of Budiongan in the transaction, it cannot establish beyond reasonable doubt that the accused has a direct or indirect financial or pecuniary interest in the said transaction between the municipality and the company.

The complainant in the case and the prosecution alleged that Budiongan used PMCCK Hardware, another construction materials supplier in Carmen town, which the mayor allegedly owned based on evidence presented, to transact business with the municipal government of Carmen and that YY Home Builders Depot was merely a dummy in the transaction for the mayor's own financial gain and advantage.

But the Sandiganbayan said that the only material evidence the prosecution relied on to prove the allegation was the circumstance that a certain Gencies Anne Tan-Dapiton, a sales clerk of PMCCK Hardware and a cousin of the mayor's wife, was the one who collected from the municipality the check payment intended for YY Home Builders Depot.

"It is the view of this Court that the circumstantial evidence the prosecution is banking on is too tenuous to prove beyond reasonable doubt that YY Home Builders Depot was indeed a dummy fronting for accused Budiongan."

Circumstantial evidence is that evidence which proves a fact or series of facts from which the fact in issue may be established by inference - it is founded on experience and observed facts and coincidences establishing a connection between the known and proven facts and the facts sought to be proved.

"The rule is that before there can be a conviction upon circumstantial evidence 'the circumstances proved should constitute an unbroken chain which leads to one fair and reasonable conclusion, which points to the accused, to the exclusion of all others, as the guilty person. From all the circumstances, there should be combination of evidence which in the ordinary course of things leaves no reasonable doubt of his guilt.' This standard has not been met," the court added.

The defense has likewise presented during the trial a plausible explanation on why it was Gencie Anne Tan-Dapiton who collected the check payment intended for YY Home Builders Depot. Tan Dapiton merely acted upon the request of YY Home Builders Depot, a company which she had business dealings in the past.

The court also found out that the corresponding tax on the business transaction was duly recorded and paid by YY Home Builders Depot while proceeds of the check payment was deposited to the company's bank account.

Consequently, the court said it cannot be concluded with moral certainty that the accused mayor materially benefited or financially profited from the transaction between the municipal government and YY Home Builders Depot.

Having no proof that YY Home Builders is a dummy of the accused, the prosecution also failed to establish beyond reasonable doubt that Budiongan had any direct or indirect financial or pecuniary interest in the transaction, likewise, it follows that the accused could not have possible intervened or taken part in his official capacity in said transaction with any financial interest therein, the ruling stated.

The mayor's intervention in his official capacity, according to the court, was not because he had any direct or indirect financial interest in the transaction but because it was part of his official duties as mayor.

In concluding the Decision, the Sandiganbayan discussed the constitutional precept that in all criminal prosecutions the accused shall be presumed innocent until the contrary is shown:

"It is thus incumbent upon the government to establish the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt in respect to each and every essential element necessary to make out the offense charged. Thus, where there is reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the accused, he must be acquitted even though his innocence may be doubted since the constitutional right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty can be overthrown only by proof beyond reasonable doubt."

"Considering that the prosecution has failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt the existence of all the essential elements of the offense charged in this case, the accused is entitled to an acquittal," the Sandiganbayan ruling concluded.

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