The former manager of the Bacolod City Water District has filed a motion for reconsideration before the Sandiganbayan to its decision finding her guilty of three counts of falsification of private documents for allegedly adding P1,700 to sales invoices and order slips from two Iloilo hotels, her lawyer said yesterday.

The Sandiganbayan sentenced Juliana Tan to suffer the indeterminate penalty of one year and one day to three years, six months and 21 days imprisonment for each charge, which her lawyer Roger Reyes said are to be served simultaneously and not separately, over a maximum period of 10 years and six months.

However, Reyes said the decision is not final and that he has filed a motion for reconsideration to the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division ruling on Criminal Cases No 26339, 26349 and 26341 promulgated on Jan. 24, 2006.

Tan yesterday said she would leave comments on her case to her lawyer.

In her motion for reconsideration, she asked the Sandiganbayan to set aside its decision and acquit her of the three cases, Reyes said.

Tan moved for reconsideration of the decision because the offense charged in all three cases filed against her are for falsification of public documents under Article 171 and not falsification of private documents under Article 172 of the Revised Penal Code under which she was convicted by the Sandiganbayan, he said.

Reyes said, assuming that for the sake of argument, that the offenses committed by the accused constituted violation of Article 172, the Sandiganbayan has to jurisdiction over alterations of private documents because they are private transactions committed not in relation to Tan's office as then Baciwa general manager.

If the Sandiganbayan considered the altered documents as representative of private transactions between the accused and the hotels they cannot be considered transactions in relation to her office as BACIWA general manager, Reyes stressed.

If the offenses committed were in violation of Article 172 (B) of the Revised Penal Code for alteration of private documents, the case should not be tried by the Sandiganbayan but by a regular court, he added.

The Sandigandbayan on Jan. 24, 2006 found Tan guilty in Criminal Case 23639. The information filed states that on March 6, 1998 Tan falsified sales invoice No. 516176 of Hotel Del Rio, Iloilo City, adding the figure four before the original amount of P88 for meals making it appear that she spent P488.

In Criminal Case 23640, Tan is said to have added the figure one before the amount P363 in Hotel del Rio Invoice No. 516175 making it appear that she spent P1,363 for meals on March 6, 1998.

In Criminal Case No. 23641 information filed said Tan falsified Order Slip No. 2242 issued by La Fiesta Hotel, Iloilo City, by adding the figure three before the original amount of P70 to make it appear that she spent P370 for meals on March 6, 1998.

Under the circumstances there is no doubt that the acts of falsification are related to Tan's official position in BACIWA since she used the altered documents to support her liquidation statement and request for reimbursement, the Sandigabayan decision said.

AQCUITTED IN
TWO OTHER CASES

Meanwhile, Reyes pointed out that Tan was recently acquitted in two other cases.

Tan was acquitted by the Sandiganbayan on Jan. 24, 2006 in Criminal Case 26342 for allegedly converting for her personal use P301 representing the difference between her cash advance of P5,390 and her legitimate expenses of P5,088.69 for insufficiency of evidence.

Reyes also pointed out that the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division on Feb. 8, 2006 also acquitted Tan of violating Republic Act 3019, known as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, for collecting transportation allowance of P91,400 from 1996 to 1999 despite having been assigned a Mitsubishi Adventure GLS Wagon for official use.

"The prosecution failed to prove its essential allegation that accused Tan acted with 'evident bad faith' or 'manifest partiality' in approving the release of, and actually receiving transportation allowances during the period concerned," the Sandiganbayan ruled.

Conviction must rest on the strength of evidence for the prosecutor and not on the weakness of the evidence of the defense, the Sandiganbayan added.*CPG

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