Sandigan acquits 4 AFP-RSBS execs of graft

The Sandiganbayan has acquitted four former officials of a military separation benefits company accused of overpricing the acquisition cost of a property in Tanauan, Batangas in 1997. Among those cleared from graft charges was retired Brig. Gen. Jose Ramiscal Jr., former president of the Armed Forces of the Philippines- Retirement and Separation Benefits System (AFP-RSBS) Also acquitted were lawyer Meinrado Enrique A. Bello, head of the AFP-RSBS legal division; lawyer Manuel Satuito, chief of documentation and legal division; and Capt. Perfecto O. Quilicot Jr., project officer. Prosecutors accused the four of defrauding the AFP-RSBS by overpricing the acquisition cost of a 1.22-hectare property in Bgy. Sulpoc, Tanauan City to P2.45 million, when the actual price was only P425,495.00 based on the zonal valuation of P35 per square meter. In a 65-page decision promulgated last November 26, the Sandiganbayan Third Division said the prosecution failed to prove the conspiracy among the defendants. “The prosecution miserably failed to present positive and convincing evidence that the accused by their signatures and official positions directly or indirectly agreed to ‘over price’ the property for their self-interest and benefit or to the prejudice of AFP-RSBS," it said. Two deeds of sale The Office of the Ombudsman based its graft charge on the two deeds of sale found for the purchase – a unilateral deed bearing only the signature of the previous land owners for the amount of P P425.495.00; and a bilateral deed, signed both by the sellers and the AFP-RSBS officials, for P2,455,714. Ombudsman investigators claimed the lower price tag was the real purchase value as it was used as the basis for payment of real estate taxes. The Sandiganbayan, however, held that based on evidence, the transaction went through the normal review and procedures for land acquisitions. “It appears that the acquisition and payment of the subject property went through a regular process and their signatures were procured and affixed on the required documents in accordance with a standard operating procedure," the decision read. It also said the purchase proposal had passed through three levels of approving bodies, each of which had members other than the four defendants who were not even named in the graft case. - KBK, GMANews.TV