Joey Marquez convicted for graft

[wakin]

me appeal pa yan. baka ituro ni joey si alma.

[zero]

kung malakas pa ang kapit ni joey sa mga naka-upo, hindi pa ito makukulong.

[o10ciano]

ito c raychard gomez at john estrada alam ko mag saklolo cla sa ogag na yan. lalo na ito c john estrada, muntik na makulong itong ogag dahil sa bomb scare sa airport sa general santos. buti na lang wala na project ito c john at joey. dami pa naman mga anak sa labas. lakas nang sperm count nang ogag na yan

[baiskee]

nak ng tipaklong naman eh...sa tagal-tagal ng panahon yan lang ang kasong tinutukan ng comm on audit?

hello???? pang ilan ba ang pilipinas pag dating sa corruption?

di ba nasa honor roll...

[niky]

Yay!!! We're safe from over-priced broomsticks!

:hysterical:

Now let's see some serious action?

[Lucius]

nak ng tipaklong naman eh...sa tagal-tagal ng panahon yan lang ang kasong tinutukan ng comm on audit?

hello???? pang ilan ba ang pilipinas pag dating sa corruption?

di ba nasa honor roll...

Dean's lister / top notcher tayo

[oliver1013]

Small time 400k tapos walis. tsk tsk, dapat yung bilyunan ang yariin.

[jeffrocks]

Hintayin...ang pinakamalaking isdang big-timer sa September na...

[Memphis Raines]

Reminds me of Al Capone. Everybody thought that he would be convicted of murder charges, smuggling, prostitution or any other severe crime but then in the end all it took was just a simple case of tax evasion then boom! Outa here!

Who would have thought that Joey "Tsong" Marquez would be brought down by broomsticks . Buti rin sana if it was a bigger amount, but then he goes to jail for less than half a million pesoses lang!

Kris Aquino must be laughing her heart out!

[explorer]

‘Walis tingting’ sweeps ‘Tsong’ to jail for 50 years

By Jocelyn Uy
Inquirer
Last updated 05:15am (Mla time) 08/31/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- The Sandiganbayan found nothing amusing in the defense of former Parañaque Mayor Joey “Tsong” Marquez on why he bought broomsticks (walis tingting) at an overprice 11 years ago and, for his trouble, sentenced the comedian Thursday to a maximum of 50 years in prison.

The court rejected the defense argument of Marquez that his “noble” quest to win the title of “Cleanest and Greenest City” constituted an “emergency” justifying his noncompliance with the rules and regulations of the Commission on Audit.

Marquez appeared distraught and refused to talk with newsmen after the Sandiganbayan found him and three former officials of Parañaque City guilty of five counts of graft in connection with the anomalous purchase of 55,432 broomsticks worth P1.07 million between January 1996 and September 1997.

The anti-graft court’s fourth division sentenced Marquez to six to 10 years in prison for each count of graft (a jail term ranging from 30 to 50 years) and ordered him to pay P462,708 representing the overpriced amount in the procurement of the broomsticks.

Also convicted of graft were three Parañaque City officials in the broomstick controversy -- Silvestre de Leon, the city treasurer; Marilou Tanael, the city accountant, and Ofelia Caunan, officer in charge of the city’s general services office. De Leon passed away recently, according to the Sandiganbayan sheriff.

The court, however, cleared three other accused for lack of evidence -- Flocerfida Babida, city budget officer; Ailyn Romea, chief of staff of the Office of the Mayor; and Antonio Razo, a private respondent.

Throughout the promulgation, which lasted only a few minutes, Marquez kept his composure but one of his fellow accused burst into tears when the court announced the guilty verdict.

No public bidding

“A perusal of the prosecution’s evidence would readily reveal, even from a layman’s perspective, that the local government of Parañaque was seriously prejudiced by the transactions under review,” Associate Justice Jose Hernandez said in his 30-page decision.

The court said Marquez and the other accused should have conducted a public bidding so the city government could have gotten the best possible price for the broomsticks.

Court records showed that the city government procured 55,432 broomsticks without public bidding from Zaro Trading, a firm owned by Razo.

As part of its “Clean and Green” program, the city government purchased by personal canvass a total 142,612 broomsticks worth more than P2.95 million through the committee on bids and awards from 1996 to 1998.

Above reasonable price of P11

The Commission on Audit found out that these broomsticks were bought at either P15 or P25 each -- way above the “reasonable price” of P11 per broomstick quoted by the Department of Budget and Management Procurement Service and obtained by the Las Piñas government from various suppliers.

The court noted that all the broomsticks were “supplied by one supplier, all purchases were attended with irregularities, each purchase of walis tingting is a part of one whole transaction and the other [broomsticks] were overpriced by the same supplier at P14 per piece.”

“This court is convinced that the transactions entered into by Parañaque City relative to the walis tingting with handle are manifestly and grossly disadvantageous to the government,” Hernandez said in his ruling.

In convicting Marquez, the court said it was “fairly evident that he had a hand in each and every step of the transaction” as he had signed the documents pertinent to the procurement of the broomsticks.

The court pointed out that Marquez even approved a purchase request without the signature of the city treasurer regarding the funds available and signed resolutions invoking a repealed law to sidestep public bidding.

Camera-shy

After the promulgation, Marquez and the others holed themselves up at the Sandiganbayan sheriff’s office for more than three hours, refusing to talk with the media.

At one point, a distraught Marquez was seen lounging on a sofa while engaging Sheriff Ed Urieta in light talk. He also allowed a trainee working in the sheriff’s office to take his picture.

The comedian left past 1 p.m. on board his black Ford Expedition when the court issued his release order upon settlement of P150,000 additional cash bond for his temporary liberty.

2 other graft cases

Marquez has 15 days to file a motion for reconsideration.

The actor has two other graft cases pending in the Sandiganbayan -- the alleged overprice in the purchase of P3.2 million worth of ammunition for his bodyguards; and his failure to reimburse P6.4 million worth of textbooks that the Parañaque government ordered from a supplier.