Ex-SBMA exec found guilty in missing govt vehicles mess

A former official of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) was sentenced to imprisonment of between six and eight years after being found guilty of falsifying documents for missing government equipment and vehicles. Lawyer Hedy Esmade-Diaz, a former SBMA corporate secretary, was found "guilty beyond reasonable doubt" by an Olongapo City Regional Trial Court for violation of Art. 141, par. 4 of the Revised Penal Code. In a press release on Tuesday, Deputy Special Prosecutor Jesus Micael of the Office of the Ombudsman said the case stemmed from an inventory of the properties of the SBMA that showed a number of missing equipment and vehicles. The missing items were later found to have been transferred to the city government of Olongapo City through a Joint Redevelopment and Administration Agreement (JRAA) and “Memorandum of Agreement" (MOA). To prove the transfer was above-board, Diaz presented her "Secretary's Certificate" dated July 16, 1998, showing that the MOA to transfer the equipment and vehicles was "ratified, confirmed and approved" in a meeting on May 6, 1998. During trial, however, Prosecution Bureau Director Rodrigo Coquia of the Office of the Ombudsman’s Office of the Special Prosecutor presented evidence to prove that the MOA was not included in the agenda in the notice of the said board meeting in 1998. The prosecution argued that the purported JRAA was signed by only two of the 15-member board. Presiding Judge Richard Paradeza said Diaz's certification and the eventual transfer "deprived" the SBMA of the properties meant for it. - VVP, GMA News