School principal charged with graft
A SCHOOL principal in Lingayen town faces six to 10 years imprisonment for demanding P25,000 from an applicant for a teaching position.
Dr. Conrado Estrada, principal of Padilla Central School, was found guilty for violation of Sec. 3 (b) of Republic Act No. 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
The decision was handed down by Lingayen Regional Trial Court Judge Teodoro Fernandez on August 31 decision.
The decision says Estrada is guilty beyond reasonable doubt and is also permanently disqualified from public office
The court dismissed Estrada’s defense that it was complainant Melanie Sison who bribed him but he did not file any criminal charge against her.
“The defense of denial, unsubstantiated by clear and convincing evidence, is negative and self-serving, and merits no weight in law and cannot be given greater evidentiary value than the testimony of credible witnesses who testified on affirmative matters,” the decision said.
Sison claimed that Estrada told her sometime in February 2003 to prepare P25,000 “for her future employment”, which she delivered at his office more than a week later.
In June 2003, Estrada informed her of the revised guidelines on recruitment and appointment, which made her documents insufficient. Estrada then provided Sison with two service records and a certificate of service.
But Sison later lost interest in the job and became afraid she would be charged of falsification of documents by accepting the fake papers given by Estrada
Sison then asked Estrada to just return the money “on the last day of June 2003.”
On July 1, she executed a sworn statement with the Lingayen police. Accompanied by her husband, Louie, and PO3 Alberto Santiago, she went to Estrada’s office in the afternoon of that day.
The court said her testimony, which was corroborated by Santiago, “sufficiently established the assertion that the accused received the amount of P25,000 from the private complainant.” The court also got testimonies from two other police officers.
Share your Comments or Reactions
Powered by Facebook Comments
