Cebu Gov. Garcia, 7 others cleared of graft over Balili property purchase

Cebu governor Gwendolyn Garcia and seven others were acquitted of graft over a 2008 purchase of the Balili property in Naga City, Cebu.

In a decision dated November 26, the Sandiganbayan granted the demurrer to evidence filed by Garcia, Juan Bolo, Anthony Sususco, Roy Salubre, Eulogio Pelayre, Emme Gingoyon, and property owners Romeo and Amparo Balili.

They were involved in the Cebu provincial government's “anomalous” purchase of a 24.92-hectare Balili property in Tiga-An for a human settlement and seaport project.

Garcia had allegedly allowed the purchase of the P98-million beachfront lot but a land survey by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources later found that nearly 20 hectares of the property was submerged in water and unfit for the project.

“Neither the Commission on Audit nor the Internal Audit Service disallowed the entire transaction,” Associate Justice Lorifel Lacap Pahimna said in the resolution.

“The prosecution failed to show any basis for its conclusion that the contract entered into by accused Garcia… is grossly and manifestly disadvantageous to the government,” the court added.

Associate Justices Michael Frederick Musngi, Maria Theresa Mendoza Arcega, and Karl Miranda concurred while Associate Justice Oscar Herrera Jr. dissented, arguing that the testimonies and evidence submitted were “sufficient for the conviction of the accused.”

“The Sandiganbayan has seen through the machinations and unfounded accusations of all those that wanted to bring us down… Justice has been served and the truth has set us free,” Garcia said in a ceremony on Capitol grounds. 

—Julia Mari Ornedo/LDF, GMA News