Ombudsman seeks perjury conviction of ex-AFP chief Abadia

The Office of the Ombudsman has asked the Sandiganbayan First Division to declare former Armed Forces chief Lisandro Abadia guilty of perjury for allegedly misrepresenting a P2-million increase in his assets, liabilities and net worth almost two decades ago. In a 41-page memorandum, Prosecution Bureau VI director Diosdado Calonge and assistant special prosecutor Maria Janina Hidalgo said they have provided “proof beyond reasonable doubt" of Abadia’s dishonesty in declaring the source of the “drastic" rise in his net worth in 1992. In his 1992 statement of assets, liabilities and net worth, Abadia declared P2,550,000 as family income from proceeds of the sale of a parcel of land in Dumlog, Talisay, Cebu with Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) No. 2264. The Ombudsman, however, said evidence showed that the property remained under the names of Abadia and his wife Violeta, as registered in the Cebu Province Registry of Deeds until June 2006. The property’s TCT, the prosecution disclosed, was canceled only in June 2006 and replaced by a new one under spouses Emilio and Erlinda Rafols. The new land title came from a Deed of Absolute Sale between the Abadias and Rafols dated September 2002, or 10 years after Abadia claimed to have sold the property. Apart from the glaring difference in dates, prosecutors likewise disclosed that the property was officially valued at only P200,000, or over P2.3 million less than what Abadia declared in his 1992 SALN. “Undisputed evidence of circumstances revealed that accused knew there was no sale of property in 1992. The presumption that an unlawful act was done with an unlawful intent was not disputed. This false declaration of income was willfully made to mask the drastic and precipitate rise in his net worth," the prosecution said. In an April 2008 resolution penned by Associate Justice Alexander Gesmundo, the anti-graft court had already declared that, “the prosecution’s testimonial and documentary evidence are sufficient for purposes of finding accused guilty of the offense charged," unless Abadia can refute them. Perjury carries a penalty of imprisonment ranging from four months and one day to two years and four months. — JA/KBK, GMA News