A former mayor of Samar was convicted by the Sandiganbayan to have committed graft beyond a possible suspicion and was charged and found guilty of up to eight years in prison.

Arnold Abalos, the mayor of San Sebastian, was condemned to a minimum of six years and one month in prison and a potential of eight years in a 30-page judgement by the anti-graft court.

Additionally, he is banned to hold public office ever.

Roberto Rebosura, the complainant, and other municipal officials filed a complaint against Abalos for failing to pay their GSIS contributions in March 2012. Roberto Rebosura was the MPDC at the time. Shortly after, Abalos issued a document appointing Alma Llanitas, a Municipal Social Welfare and Development Officer, as MPDC to take Rebosura’s post.

Rebosura said that Abalos had treated him unfairly because he was the sole official who had complained whose position had been eliminated.

He added that the previous mayor failed to act on his move for reconsideration, which asked Abalos to revoke his memo naming Llanitas as his successor.

In his defense, Abalos claimed that although he organized a staff meeting to go through the request for review, he was unable to continue the conversation because of “his absence.”

The anti-graft court stated, “Lamentably, it was not enough, as the said meeting never resulted in the resolution of the said motion. It was neither granted nor denied, or otherwise properly disposed of.”

It said, “The presence of the element of neglect or refusal to act without sufficient justification, therefore, cannot be denied.”

The court further stated that it is “beyond question” that Abalos had not taken action after a fair amount of time has passed.

The problem of Rebosura’s replacement or the uncertainty surrounding its settlement remained for more than a year until his job was ultimately terminated, the court continued.

The document went on to say that “All of the foregoing demonstrates an intention to discriminate or prejudice against the private complainant.”