Vizcaya ex-mayor gets 18 years for lost road compactor

DUPAX DEL NORTE, Nueva Vizcaya - The Sandiganbayan sentenced a former mayor of this town to 18 years after he failed to turn over a heavy equipment owned by the municipal government in 2004. 

The anti-graft court also ordered ex-mayor Isaias Almuete to pay the fine of P549,450, the price of the road roller vibratory compactor that he lost. 

During trial, government prosecutors presented witnesses and documents showing that when Almuete lost his re-election bid in May 2004, he failed to turn over the equipment despite demand from the local government. 

Investigation conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation based in Bayombong showed that the heavy equipment was seen parked inside the Almuete compound.  

"It is the head of the department or office of a municipality who is primarily accountable for any government property issued... that  Almuete had control in the use and disposition of the equipment," the tribunal ruled in junking the defense of the accused that he was not the property custodian.

It added that "it is simply unfathomable how an equipment like the subject vibratory compactor could be lost in a small municipality without any trace."