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ONE of the alleged accomplice of cult leader Ruben Ecleo Jr. in three graft charges lost his bid to appeal a conviction.
Ricardo Santillano was earlier sentenced to at least 20 years imprisonment for the anomalous construction of a public market in Zamboanga del Norte.
The Supreme Court (SC) third division denied his appeal.
The high court, in a decision penned by Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco, affirmed the ruling of the Sandiganbayan which found him guilty of three counts of violation of section three, paragraph e of Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Conupt Practices Act.
This provision prohibits public officers from ?causing any undue injury to any party, including the Government, or giving any private party any unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference in the discharge of his official administrative or judicial functions through manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence.?
Although Santillano is not a public official, the High Court said he could still be held liable for violating Republic Act 3019 which ruled that ?it shall be unlawful for any person knowingly to induce or cause any public official to commit any of the (graft) offenses.?
?Clearly, the law punishes not only public officers who commit prohibited acts but also those who induce or cause the public official to commit those (graft) offenses,? the court said.
Ruben Ecleo, leader of the Philipine Benevolent Missaionaries Association, was also convicted and sentenced to 31 years in prison for graft committed during his stint as mayor of San Jose, Dinagat Island in Zamboanga del Norte.
The case was filed in 1998.
Ecleo is out on bail on charges of parricide in relation to the killing of his wife Alona who was stangled in her residence in Cebu City on Jan. 5, 2002.
Ecleo was freed in April 2004 on P1 million bail./REPORTER ADOR VINCENT S. MAYOL
