Joel Bito-onon, the former barangay captain of Tacras, Narra, was exonerated of two charges of misusing public property by Sandiganbayan, which ruled that the prosecution failed to establish his guilt.
The former captain’s conviction and sentence of 2-6 years in prison for each count was overturned by the anti-graft court in a 34-page ruling that was made public on June 16.
Associate Justice Maryann Corpus-Manalac authored the 34-page ruling with the concurrence of Associate Justice Zaldy Trespeses, who chairs the 5th Division, and Associate Justice Gener Gito.
Bito-onon had previously been found guilty of malversation for the alleged disappearance of components from two public service vehicles, a Kia Besta ambulance valued at ₱500,000 and a multicab worth ₱150,000, between 2007 and 2010, although he had been cleared of two different corruption allegations by the RTC.
The Sandiganbayan agreed with Bito-onon’s argument that the necessary elements of malversation were missing when he challenged the RTC’s conviction.
The prosecution “absolutely failed,” according to the decision, to demonstrate that Bito-onon either abused or permitted the misuse of the car components.
The Sandiganbayan ruled that the case against Bito-onon lacked strong and trustworthy proof, especially concerning the supposed loss of the vehicle parts.
