BONTOC, Mountain Province -- The
Sandiganbayan has sentenced the former mayor of Barlig town of this province to
a maximum of 10 years in prison for graft.
Crispin Fias-Ilon was
found guilty of soliciting P45,000 from a supplier in exchange for the
release of a check worth P318,682.68, representing the local government’s
payment for medicine and medical supplies that it procured.
Witnesses testified
that Fias-Ilon demanded the amount from the Blessed St. John Pharmaceutical and
General Merchandise.
Fias-Ilon was caught
receiving the money in an entrapment in a restaurant in Baguio City on June 16,
2006.
“The prosecution
sufficiently showed that accused received the money or commission,” the
anti-graft court stated in its ruling.
“The purchase of
medicine and medical supplies is a transaction by the municipality and not a
personal deal by the mayor,” the court said. “It is very suspicious that the
mayor would be the one to personally hand the check to the supplier.”
No comments:
Post a Comment