Ex-Pangasinan exec sued for graft allowed to plead guilty to lesser offense

The Sandiganbayan has permitted a former Pangasinan local government official to plead guilty to a lesser offense, sidestepping a graft trial linked to alleged irregularities in a land sale.

Provincial Assessor Nestor Peralta Quiambao entered into a plea bargain, offering to plead guilty to Omission of Property from Assessment or Tax Rolls by Officers and Other Acts instead of graft, which carries a minimum sentence of six years.

The Sandiganbayan approved Quiambao’s plea, noting that the prosecution had no objections.

Plea bargaining in criminal cases allows the accused and the prosecution to reach a mutually satisfactory case resolution, subject to court approval. This requires the agreement of both parties and remains at the court’s discretion.

“Having carefully examined the proposed Plea-Bargaining Agreement, the Court found nothing objectionable to it,” the Sandiganbayan said.

“The consent of the offended parties and the prosecutor, upon the authority of the Ombudsman, has been duly obtained. To reiterate, the acceptance of a plea bargain is purely upon the discretion of the prosecutor,” it added.

In 2022, the Ombudsman charged Quiambao with taking advantage of his position by granting unwarranted benefits to Melita Montemayor Belecina by approving a tax declaration in her favor despite the absence of necessary documents for the appraisal of untitled property.

Prosecutors noted that Quiambao failed to conduct further investigation to verify the application’s authenticity, despite apparent inconsistencies in the entries and supporting documents provided by Belecina.

In 2018, the Ombudsman charged Quiambao with a similar offense for allegedly canceling a tax declaration of residential land in Bugallon, Pangasinan, owned by spouses Rodolfo and Veronica Javier, without due notice, as mandated under the Local Government Code and the 2006 Manual on Real Property Appraisal and Assessment Operation.

Quiambao was accused of reclassifying the property from residential to unirrigated rice land, later reverting it to its original classification upon its transfer to Calidcan.

As a result of the reclassification, Calidcan’s property market value rose from P32,300 to P605,700.