A former high-ranking official of the Philippine National Police has been convicted by the Sandiganbayan for graft. P/C Supt. Dionisio Coloma, Jr., former Deputy Director of the Philippine National Training Institute, Philippine Public Safety College, was sentenced to imprisonment of six to 10 years after he was found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of violation of Section 3 (e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act No. 3019).
Evidence proved that Coloma facilitated the purchase of a one hectare lot in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi at the price of P1,500,000.00 for the site of a Regional Training School. Ombudsman prosecutors presented witnesses and documents to prove the anomalies that tattered the 2001 land deal Coloma brokered with close friends, Rolando and Albia Lim. The Commission on Audit found that there were no documents such as disbursement vouchers to support the project. The audit team also found that the purchase price was exorbitant as the prevailing market price in 2001 was pegged at only P9,730.00 per hectare.
In its Resolution, the Sandiganbayan noted that “the purchase of property caused damage to the purchaser, not only because it was exorbitantly overpriced, but also because there is no authority or basis for the purchase of the lot in the first place.”
The anti-graft court stated that, “bad faith was manifestly shown by Coloma when he orchestrated the immediate transfer of the funds to the bank accounts of the contractors, to prevent these funds from reverting back to the national treasury. This was done without a single disbursement voucher being approved or any supporting document being submitted.”
Aside from imprisonment, Coloma was also perpetually disqualified from holding public office.
Under Section 3(e) of R.A. No. 3019, public officials are prohibited from causing any undue injury to any party, including the Government, or giving any private party any unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference in the discharge of his official administrative or judicial functions through manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence. ###