Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo said that he is very happy that the truth has prevailed with the dismissal by the Sandiganbayan 3rd Division today, January 29, of a six-year-old malversation case filed against him and two others for the alleged misuse of a P480 million rehabilitation fund.
“This is good for the people of Negros Oriental because I won three consecutive elections overwhelmingly because they did not believe the accusations hurled against me,” Degamo told DIGICAST NEGROS.
The decision of the Sandiganbayan is the same as that of the people of Negros Oriental, the truth has prevailed, he said.
The anti-graft court acquitted Degamo, provincial accountant Teodorico Reyes and former provincial treasurer Danilo Mendez, of the complex crime of malversation and falsification of public documents for failure of the prosecution to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt of in a promulgation done virtually.
“The decision of the Sandiganbayan is fair and true, it shows that I did not malverse any public funds,” he said.
It’s like a thorn in his body that he has been carrying for the last six years has been removed, he said.
“I’m so happy that God has been watching over me and provided the wisdom to those who decided the case,” Degamo said.
The case, believed instigated by a political opponent, is the result of his implementation of projects using P480 million he had asked for from the national government during the term of then President Benigno Aquino III following Typhoon Sendong in late 2011, he said.
The funds were used for river dikes that have mitigated flooding in Dumaguete City and other parts of Negros Oriental, Degamo said.*