Sandiganbayan convicts AFP supply officer for illegal sale of generators

From InterAksyon (Jan 13): Sandiganbayan convicts AFP supply officer for illegal sale of generators

The Sandiganbayan has convicted a supply officer of the Armed Forces of the Philippines for the unlawful sale of four generators worth P1.2 million.

Engineer Dante Senen, Supply Accountable Officer of the AFP Military Supply Unit based in Cebu City was found guilty of violating Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, for which he was sentenced to a six- to 10-year jail term, and of malversation under Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code, for a 10- to 18-year term.

Senen was charged by the Office of the Ombudsman in 2005 with then Philippine Air Force Brigadier General Vladimir delos Trino, Major Antonio Jason Garcia, and Antonio Ularte of Eduard Enterprises.

The 20-page verdict written by Associate Justice Samuel Martires, the Sandiganbayan said “the evidence presented is sufficient to prove the guilt of the accused as his actions from the time of the disposal of the generators amount to gross inexcusable negligence.”

“If accused Senen is indeed innocent or unaware of the grand plan of accused Delos Trino and Garcia, he should have immediately reported the incident to his commanding officer to properly address the same or prevent the disposal of generators,” Martires said.

Senen was also perpetually disqualified from holding public office and ordered to indemnify the government the cost of the generators and slapped a fin for the same amount.

The supply officer remained at-large during the trial and was only arrested on November 21, 2011 in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, or about six months after the Sandiganbayan convicted Delos Trino and Garcia.

Ularte remains at large.

The court established that the generators were sold to Ularte for only P800,000 without public bidding.

The proceeds of the sale remain unaccounted for.

http://interaksyon.com/article/136139/sandiganbayan-convicts-afp-supply-officer-for-illegal-sale-of-generators