Graft court convicts ex-Zambo councilor for fake drug busts

A former councilor of Zamboanga del Norte was sentenced to six to 10 years in prison after the graft court found him guilty of faking drug busts to claim money from the local government. The Sandiganbayan Second Division found former Dapitan City Councilor Ricardo Inding guilty of violating the Anti-Graft act, the Office of the Ombudsman said on Monday. Presiding Justice Edilberto Sandoval penned the nine-page decision while Associate Justices Teresita Diaz-Baldos and Samuel Martires both concurred with it. Inding was also ordered to reimburse the P30,500 he pocketed and was perpetually disqualified from ever holding public office. "Section 3, paragraph (e) of RA 3019 refers to the causing of 'any undue injury to any party including the Government or giving any private party any unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference in the discharge of his official administrative or judicial functions through manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence,'" the Ombudsman said. Court records showed Inding faked drug busts against alleged drug pushers and users in 1997 and falsified documents for the reimbursement of the cost. He made it appear that he headed the committee on illegal drugs of the city’s Sangguniang Panglunsod (SP). However, it was discovered that no such committee subsisted nor has been officially created. Records showed Inding chaired the committee on tourism and was also a member of the committees on youth and sports development, and on health and sanitation. "It was revealed that Inding made it appear that there were surveillance, test-buys and buy-busts done from January-August 1997 as reflected in his false confidential report," the Ombudsman said. However, police records showed only two arrests were made during that period, and did not mention him or credit the arrests they made to Inding’s so-called anti-drug drive. The Sandiganbayan said it got the impression that the members of the team were fictitious because Inding submitted community tax certificates whose dates of issuance did not tally with official records to support his reimbursement claims. It addedthe prosecution led by Prosecutor Alma Azanza, “has proved more prosaic language of the law, the guilt of the accused (Inding) beyond reasonable doubt." - VVP, GMA News