NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Philippines – The anti-graft court Sandiganbayan has ordered the arrest of former town mayor in Negros Occidental who after it upheld a ruling that convicted for him for graft.
The court issued the arrest warrant against former Valladolid mayor Romel Yogore on December 13, 2024, authorities confirmed on Wednesday, February 12.
A copy of the warrant, signed by Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Zaldy Trespeces, first circulated on Facebook, prompting the police to issue statements.
In 2019, the Sandiganbayan 7th Division upheld the decision which held Yogore liable for violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. The ruling carried penalties of automatic dismissal as mayor and perpetual disqualification from holding public office.
Major Karina Onion, chief of the Valladolid town police, confirmed receiving a copy of the arrest warrant from the Sandiganbayan on January 3.
Onion said the town police tried to serve the warrant at Yogore’s residence in Barangay Poblacion, Valladolid, but found he was no longer there.
A week later, the police returned the warrant to the Sandiganbayan, notifying the court that Yogore could not be located in the town.
Negros Occidental police director Colonel Rainerio de Chavez, “We will still arrest him at any time once we spot him here in Negros Occidental.”
De Chavez said the Negros Occidental police and other law enforcement agencies have been directed to arrest the ex-mayor.
The Sandiganbayan also sent copies to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Camp Crame, the National Bureau of Investigation in Manila, and the Police Regional Office in Western Visayas.
Yogore’s case stemmed from the procurement of construction materials worth P230,395 for the repair and improvement of a rural health unit in 2008 without public bidding.
The supplier, JB Nieve Hardware and Construction Supplies, turned out to be owned by his brother-in-law, Jonie Nieve.
It was Larry Concepcion, a local radio personality from Valladolid, who filed the complaint against Yogore and eight others in 2010.
The Ombudsman-Visayas investigated and, in 2017, Yogore was held liable. He was subsequently convicted by the anti-graft court in 2019, sentencing him to up to eight years in prison.
Of his co-accused, seven were acquitted, except for former municipal engineer and local bids and awards committee vice chairman Alfonso Manayon, who pleaded guilty to a lesser offense and was fined P5,000.
Yogore appealed the decision to the Sandiganbayan, but the court upheld the ruling in 2019. A subsequent motion for reconsideration was denied. The arrest warrant was issued nearly four years later.
On March 2, 2022, the Supreme Court denied Yogore’s appeal against the Sandiganbayan’s decision, and then, on March 29, 2024, its resolution became final and executory.
Concepcion called on authorities to act swiftly. “I filed the case against Yogore not because I want fame, or for my own sake. Rather, I filed it because of too much corruption that had already been unbearable,” he told Rappler. – Rappler.com