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[av_heading heading=’EX-MAYOR FACES GRAFT CHARGES Sandiganbayan will absolve my father – Mangilimutan ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”]
BY RANIE AZUE
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BACOLOD City – Mayor Rhumyla Nicor-Mangilimutan of La Castellana, Negros Occidental is optimistic that the justices at Sandiganbayan will exonerate her father from graft charges that the Office of the Ombudsman filed.
The Ombudsman lodged the charges against La Castellana former mayor Alberto Nicor Jr. before the Sandiganbayan on Dec. 11 last year.
Nicor is facing charges for three counts of violation of Section 3(h) of Republic Act (RA) 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
Section 3(h) of RA 3019 prohibits a government official from “directly or indirectly having financial or pecuniary interest in any business, contract or transaction” in which he/she has the official capacity to intervene or in which he/she is prohibited by the Constitution or by any law from having any interest.
On Jan. 24, 2013, Nicor issued his wife a business permit to operate a hollow blocks factory during his term as mayor, Ombudsman’s assistant special prosecutor Jorge Espinal wrote in the charge sheet.
The following day, Nicor also issued a mayor’s permit “in favor of himself” to operate a trucking business.
A month after, the Ombudsman said Nicor issued another mayor’s permit allowing him and business partner Paul Garcia to operate the trucking business.
The Ombudsman said these three instances show that Nicor has “intervened in his official capacity” to favor the businesses in which he “had a direct financial or pecuniary interests.”
The Ombudsman recommended to the Sandiganbayan a P90,000 bail bond for Nicor’s temporary liberty.
But Mangilimutan stressed that “no damage was done” to the town’s public funds when her father issued the permits.
Nicor never entered into any business transaction with the local government of La Castellana, Mangilimutan said.
She added that the track record of her father will show the anti-graft court that his actions were done in good faith.
La Castellana officials including municipal treasurer Jacinto Potato, assistant municipal treasurer Nemuel Juayan and municipal accountant Joelette Borromeo were set to testify against Nicor.
Mangilimutan replaced her father as mayor of La Castellana after the May 2016 elections./PN
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