A former Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) member of the municipal government of Aloguinsan, Cebu was arrested on Tuesday morning, January 30, for her alleged involvement in the anomalous purchase of food worth P287,725 in 2010.
A joint team of Liloan and Aloguinsan police stations, led by their respective commanders Chief Inspector Randy Korret and Inspector Sigmund Freud Cruz, implemented the warrant of arrest against Evangeline Datan Manigos, 55, in Barangay Bonbon, Aloguinsan.
The warrant was issued by Associate Justice Rafael Lagos, the chairperson of Sandiganbayan-Fifth Division.
A total bail of P60,000 was set for her temporary liberty.
Manigos is one of the seven officials charged by the Ombudsman for violating Section 3 (e) and Section 3 (h) of Republic Act 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
The other accused are Augustus Caesar Lim Moreno, former mayor of Aloguinsan; his wife Cynthia; former BAC chairpersons Pepito Maguilimotan and Nonela Villegas, and members Marilyn Flordeliza and Gertrudes Ababon.
Last January 17, Moreno was arrested in his residence in Barangay Poblacion, Aloguinsan for the same offenses. He later posted a P60,000 bail.
The accused are facing trial before the Sandiganbayan for allegedly taking part in the irregular 28 purchases of food supplies from AVG Bakeshop totaling to P282,725.
Cynthia was registered as the sole proprietor of the bakeshop.
Cynthia, also Aloguinsan's former mayor, and five other officials were charged by the Ombudsman-Visayas's Field Investigation Office, which found out that the transactions caused undue injury to the government and giving unwarranted benefits to Cynthia's bakery.
Lawyer Inocencio Dela Cerna Jr., the Moreno couple's spokesperson, said the AVG Bakeshop was sold to certain Lyn Tojeno in 2007, but Tojeno failed to process the documents that would transfer the ownership to her name. (KAL/SunStar Cebu)