ANTI-graft tribunal Sandiganbayan has acquitted former Cagayan de Oro Mayor Oscar Moreno and eight others of 11 cases of graft and falsification arising from the rental of heavy equipment, including an excavator and a trailer truck while he was governor of Misamis Oriental from 2007 to 2011.
In an 81-page decision, Associate Justice Oscar Herrera Jr., chair of the antigraft court’s Second Division cleared Moreno and his co-accused of eight counts of violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and three counts of falsification of public documents under the Revised Penal Code.
The decision was promulgated on November 24 but released only yesterday with Moreno and his co-accused present at the Sandiganbayan Centennial Building in Quezon City.
The court ruled that the prosecution failed to establish the guilt of Moreno when it anchored its allegations of the Special Audit Report of the Commission on Audit, which conducted a special investigation on the heavy equipment transactions in Misamis Oriental.
The Special Audit Team concluded that the procurement of equipment rental for one Isuzu Elf Truck and one trailer truck was simulated or rigged on account of the denial of participation of some suppliers in the canvas for price quotations.
“When the guilt of the accused has not been proven with moral certainty, it is our policy of longstanding that the presumption of innocence of the accused must be favored, and his exoneration be granted as a matter of right,” the ruling reads.
Associated Judges Caldona and Arthur Malabaguio also concurred with the ruling.
Herrera also lifted the hold departure orders against all accused and ordered all their respective cash bonds released.
Moreno was ecstatic hearing the favorable decision along with his co-accused former Bids and Awards Committee ex-provincial legal officer Cancio Guibone, ex-provincial budget officer Elmer Wabe, and ex-provincial administrator Patrick Gabutina.
The court also acquitted other BAC members, consisting of former assistant provincial engineer Rolando Pacuribot, former provincial agriculturist Danilo Maputol, former provincial general services officer Elsie Lopoy, and administrative aide Leemar Tinagan.
In a public post on Facebook yesterday, Lawyer Ban Mikheal Pacuribot, son of Engr. Roland thanked the Mordeno Law Office and Capistrano Offices, and everyone who supported the cases filed against his father for the past 10 years.
“I was crying not only for my father’s cases but also because my uncle, Atty. Jerry Pacuribot and lead defense counsel for my father is no longer around to witness this day. His defense for my father’s cases was his last display of lawyerly brilliance,” his post reads in part.
Moreno said the filing of the graft and falsification cases came as a shock to him because they were not informed that there was a special investigation team auditing them.
“The period of political vendetta has ended. It was a very painful experience,” Moreno said in a press conference in Cagayan de Oro.
He said the team did not even bother to get their side after the investigation was concluded.
Disclaimer
Mindanao Gold Star Daily holds the copyrights of all articles and photos in perpetuity. Any unauthorized reproduction in any platform, electronic and hardcopy, shall be liable for copyright infringement under the Intellectual Property Rights Law of the Philippines.
