SOLANO, Nueva Vizcaya -- For soliciting money from a mining firm in exchange
for the issuance of ore transport and export permits, former Nueva Vizcaya
provincial administrator Manuel Nilves Tabora may spend up to eight years
in prison.
In a 31-page
decision promulgated on May 17, the Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division said Tabora
was found guilty of violating Section 3 (c) of Republic Act 3019 or the
Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
Tabora was
also ordered to pay P250,000 in civil damages to International Minerals
Marketing and Advising Inc. (IMMAI).
Based on the
charge sheet filed by the Office of the Ombudsman on June 7, 2017, Tabora
received a check worth P250,000 from a certain Steven Shieldkret, president of
IMMAI.
The ombudsman
said Tabora demanded the money in exchange for securing permits from the
Provincial Mining Regulatory Board, wherein the provincial governor,
represented by Tabora at the time, sat either as chairman or member.
“The fact
that Tabora received pecuniary or material benefit for himself is crystal
clear... Check No. 0005302 issued in the name of Tabora, received, accepted and
deposited... to his Landbank accounts speaks volumes for itself,” the court
ruling read.
The court
gave no weight to Tabora’s claim that he accepted the money on behalf of a
certain Filemon Villasan, a representative of businessman Krisjann Mapile from
whom IMMAI supposedly intended to buy copper ore products for export.
“The
crime charged against Tabora was consummated when he accepted the check and
deposited the same to his account,” it said.
On the other
hand, his breach of conduct charge, otherwise known as Section 7(d) of R.A.
6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials, was
ordered dismissed because it is “very much akin in coverage or scope” to the
graft charge.
Tabora was
found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of violating Section 3(c) of R.A. 3019,
also known as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act in a 31-page decision by
the anti-graft court’s Fifth Division.
Section 3 (c)
of the said law penalizes officials who requested or received gifts or other
material benefits “in consideration for the help given to or to be given” by
them using their positions.
On April 12,
2011, Tabora received P250,000 from Shieldkret, representative of IMMAI.
The money was
in exchange for his assistance in securing the required permits for IMMAI for
one of its ore trading businesses.
These permits
are the Ore Transport Permit and the Mineral Ore Export Permit, which are
issued under the authority of the Provincial Mining Regulatory Board (PMRB),
where the provincial governor sits either as chairman or member.
In this case,
the anti-graft court found all elements of the crime present even though the
business transaction between Tabora and IMMAI fell through.
“The crime
charged against Tabora was consummated when he accepted the check and deposited
the same to his account,” the court ruled.
Tabora
claimed that the check from IMAAI was issued in his name simply because it was
requested by a certain Mr. Villasan, introduced to him as a retired Regional
Prosecutor of Region III and a visitor in the Office of the Governor.
Villasan
reportedly said it was because Tabora knew the managers of the banks in the
province, and it would help them immediately encash the check to avoid delays.
However, the
anti-graft court found it a “shallow and incredible excuse.”
It is also
“preposterous” for the court that Tabora would advance the P250,000 out of his
own pocket to give to Villasan, since the amount is “not mere pittance” given
his P18,334 monthly salary.
“That he even
went to the office of money remittance company, M. Lhuiller, to get proof that
he sent the money to Villasan, but records were no longer available, deserves,
if anything, very scant consideration,” the decision stated.
The 31-page
decision was written by Chairperson Rafael Lagos with the concurrence of
Associate Justices Maria Theresa Mendoza-Arcega and Maryann Corpus-Mañalac.
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