Lipa mayor, wife acquitted of graft

The suspended mayor of Lipa, Batangas and his wife have been acquitted of graft.

In an 11-page resolution promulgated on Sept. 29 and released yesterday, the first division of the Sandiganbayan granted the petition of Mayor Meynardo Sabili and his wife Bernadette to dismiss the case filed against them for lack of evidence.

Filed by the Office of the Ombudsman last year, the case stemmed from a contract amounting to P360,000 that the city government entered into with BPS Broadcasting and Media Services in January 2012 to air its radio program “May Aasahang Serbisyo.”

Graft probers said Sabili had a direct pecuniary interest in the contract because Bernadette owned BPS.

In its ruling, the Sandiganbayan said BPS was solely registered under the name of Bernadette, who was not yet married to Sabili at the time. Sabili and Bernadette got married only on Sept. 28, 2012.

The court said the prosecution failed to prove that Sabili had actual contributions to BPS when the contract was signed.

“Instead of presenting evidence to prove Meynardo’s actual contribution to the BPS... the prosecution focused on establishing that the accused were cohabiting prior to the execution of the contract,” the court ruling penned by Associate Justice Efren de la Cruz read.

The Sandiganbayan also gave weight to the testimony of city treasurer Doroteo Rosales that Sabili cancelled the contract when he married Bernadette.