MANILA – The Sandiganbayan anti-graft court has acquitted a former Sorsogon town mayor in a graft suit filed by her predecessor who claimed the payment for her leave credits were unjustly withheld.
The court’s 2nd Division cleared the former mayor of Bulan town, Marnellie Robles, saying no “undue injury” resulted from Helen de Castro’s complaint, according to an 18-page decision dated September 24 and written by Associate Justice Oscar Herrera Jr.
De Castro accused Robles of “evident bad faith” and “gross inexcusable negligence” for not acting on her terminal leave application and thus “willfully, unlawfully and criminally caused undue injury.”
She eventually received the pay benefit amounting to PHP846,043 in 2016 under the term of incumbent Mayor Romeo Gordola.
Robles succeeded de Castro in 2013.
In clearing Robles, the court cited Supreme Court precedents which said “mistakes committed by a public officer are not actionable absent any clear showing that they were motivated by evident bad faith or gross negligence.”
The tribunal ruled that while “the late receipt by de Castro of her terminal leave pay may have caused her inconvenience, (it) is not tantamount to the undue injury within the contemplation of Republic Act 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act).”
“In fact, the prosecution did not present proof of actual loss or damage sustained by the private complainant,” the Sandigan said.
De Castro also faced a graft case for her alleged failure to deduct liquidated damages from payment to a contractor in 2007 but was acquitted by the Sandiganbayan in 2018 due to the “inordinate delay in the conduct of the preliminary investigation” by the Office of the Ombudsman. (PNA)
