Cheyenne Suarez

SC acquits kagawad convicted of graft over P200 ’pamasahe’ for permit

Article (news)

Adrian Ayalin

ABS-CBN News

MANILA — The Supreme Court has acquitted a barangay kagawad in Davao City who was convicted by lower courts of graft over a P200 transaction in 2012.In a decision of the 2nd Division promulgated on February 19, 2025, the court granted the petition for certiorari filed by Joel Pancho Bigcas and reversed the guilty verdict handed to him by the Regional Trial Court and the Court of Appeals.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/2/19/certiorari-prohibition-mandamus-a-look-at-petitions-and-what-they-ask-courts-to-do-2137">Certiorari, Prohibition, Mandamus? A look at petitions and what they ask courts to do</a></div>The high court noted that Bigcas used the P200 given to him by Lorlene Gonzales, who applied for the issuance of an earth moving permit by the City Environment and Natural Resources Office.The permit, in turn required the submission of a resolution issued by the Sangguniang Barangay of Lacson in Davao City&#x27;s Calinan district.Court records reveal that Gonzales offered the P200 amount to Bigcas for transportation expenses to speed up the processing of her documents at the city hall.“It would be the height of injustice to condemn and punish him with imprisonment for six years and one month up to seven years in the absence of any proof of his dishonest intentions,” the court said in the decision penned by Associate Justice Amy Lazaro-Javier.The court noted that, according to Gonzales, she filed the case against Bigcas “out of principle” after she found out that the permit could not be granted because quarrying was strictly prohibited in the area where the land is located.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2025/3/7/sc-property-buyers-responsible-for-verifying-land-titles-registry-records-1153">SC: Property buyers responsible for verifying land titles, registry records</a></div>The Supreme Court stressed that Bigcas&#x27; actions were not for his own material interest and he was in fact dutifully performing his task as the chairperson of the Council of Environment and Natural Resources of the Sangguniang Barangay.The court also noted that Bigcas voluntarily provided a record of the transportation expenses incurred in relation to Gonzales’s application and even volunteered to return the money as he considered it as a loan.The court added that after the discovery that the permit cannot be granted, Bigcas earned the ire of Gonzales.“We cannot countenance this vengeful, nay, immoral scheme to put an innocent person behind bars,” the court said.

The Supreme Court has acquitted a barangay kagawad in Davao City who was convicted by lower courts over a P200 transaction which occurred in 2012.

The Supreme Court has acquitted a barangay kagawad in Davao City who was convicted by lower courts over a P200 transaction which occurred in 2012.