The Sandiganbayan has upheld an Ifugao court's ruling convicting a barangay captain and treasurer of graft for awarding a P67,200 contract for a horsepower speedboat to the former's sister.

The Sandiganbayan Seventh Division ruled in favor of Lagawe, Ifugao Regional Trial Court Branch 14, which sentenced former Barangay Dulao chairperson Roy Hunnob and ex-treasurer Salvador Galeon to up to nine years in jail for violating Section 3 (e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA 3019).

Apart from the conviction, they were also perpetually disqualified from holding public office.

In a 41-page ruling dated 24 November 2023, the anti-graft court turned down Hunnob and Galeon's plea to reverse the RTC's ruling on the grounds that the prosecution failed to sufficiently prove the presence of conspiracy.

The case involves Barangay Dulao's awarding of a contract — through Hunnob and Galeon — to Hunnob's sister, Caroline Hunnob, for the fictitious delivery of a 25-horsepower speedboat in July 2007.

The court said Hunnob and Galeon gave Caroline unwarranted benefits, advantages, or preference in the discharge of their official administrative functions through manifest partiality and evident bad faith, feloniously causing undue injury to the government.

"Familial bias has always been prevalent in our Filipino culture. On many occasions, the scales of preference had shifted in favor of a family member or 'kamag-anak (relative),' often sacrificing merit or due process. The anti-graft law, however, does not permit such bias to seep into our government processes," the Sandiganbayan ruling read.

It added that despite a failed public bid, the contract was eventually awarded to the sister of the barangay captain, who had control over the procurement process as head of the procuring entity, spells nothing but suspicion of favoritism and anomalies in the execution of public contracts.

"What happened in this case is the very evil the law sought to avoid," it said.

The court likewise cited the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, which restricts transactions between an official and his kin.

In their petition, the local officials asserted that the Ifuago RTC gravely erred in holding that they gave unwarranted benefits, advantages, or preference to Caroline, which the Sandiganbayan disagreed, stating that the findings that they "acted with manifest partiality and evident bad faith [are] correct."

"After a review of the elements vis-a-vis the evidence presented, it is obvious that there were indeed manifest partiality and evident bad faith which resulted in the giving of unwarranted benefits to any party," it said.

"It is difficult to ignore the fact that the accused-appellants signed and approved the documents necessary for the procurement of the speedboat when there was a multitude of suspicious circumstances present throughout the process, such as: (a) the lack of public bidding; (b) the delivery of a different item, a second-hand rusty, dilapidated speedboat engine; and (c) the restriction against relations provided for under Section 47 of RA 9184," it added.