The anti-graft court has found former Talisay, Cebu mayor Socrates Fernandez guilty beyond reasonable doubt of obstruction of justice.

The Sandiganbayan Fifth Division fined him P6,000 and ordered his perpetual disqualification from holding public office.

Fernandez is accused of taking advantage of his official position when he retrieved a red lady’s bag from his sports utility vehicle which was then under the custody of the police after its driver, Joavan Fernandez, his adopted son, was placed under warrantless arrest.

The younger Fernandez reportedly poked a gun at a certain Vincent Joe Castrodes.

In its ruling, the Sandiganbayan said the prosecution’s evidence is enough to prove that indeed on 4 June 2010, despite having been informed by a police officer that his vehicle was under police custody and investigation, Fernandez opened the vehicle and took away a bag and refused to turn over the same.

The Court said it is clear that the accused knowingly and willfully committed acts that clearly obstructed or impeded the ongoing police investigation against Joavan.

“By taking away the lady’s bag from the Isuzu Trooper and refusing to turn it over, the accused’s intention, under the circumstances, was obviously to make the lady’s bag unavailable during the investigation,” the Court said.

“In other words, he suppressed or concealed the lady’s bag, including its possible contents, with the intention to impair its availability as evidence in the investigation,” it added.

The decision was penned by Associate Justice Maryann Corpus-Mañalac with concurrence of Associate Justices Rafael Lagos and Maria Theresa Mendoza-Arcega.