Sandigan junks case vs Ifugao ex-mayor

By Dexter See

AGUINALDO, Ifugao -- The Sandiganbayan junked two cases of malversation of public funds filed against a former mayor of this town and the municipal treasurer.

The cases were filed by the incumbent mayor Delfin Bullan. In a decision written by Associate Justice Edilberto Sandoval, the municipal officials who were cleared of the two accounts of malversation charges were identified as former Aguinaldo mayor Federico Juguilad Jr. and municipal treasurer Medardo Marquez.

Bullan and members of the municipal council filed the cases against the two officials for their alleged involvement in the supposed loss of at least P2,798,791.63.

A municipal resolution on the cases was forwarded to the Office of the Ombudsman in August 1999.

The Ombudsman found merit in the cases and subsequently recommended the filing of the charges against the two officials in 2001.

The charges arose from a report received by Bullan from the Commission on Audit and dated Jan. 25,1999.

This was received almost a year after he unseated Juguiad in the 1998 elections