Mayor Cristeta Reyes of Malvar, Batangas has been cleared of the graft charges filed against her in connection with the municipal government’s purchase of a property owned by her children.
MANILA - The Sandiganbayan cleared a Batangas town mayor of graft arising from the purchase of the municipality of a property owned by the local chief executive's children. In a September 23 decision, the anti-graft court's Fourth Division acquitted Malvar Mayor Cristeta Reyes and her two co-accused, citing the "failure of the prosecution to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt." Municipal treasurer Yolanda Cabiscuelas and budget officer Jeanette Fruelda were also cleared of the charges. The court said even if Reyes and the landowners are related, it "does not automatically translate to having financial or pecuniary interest" in the execution of the sale. The prosecution claimed Reyes' children gained unwarranted benefit and advantage in the purchase of their 5,000-square-meter lot for PHP6.6 million, to be used as a site for a high school. The construction of the Santiago High School was completed in September 2009. The court noted the Reyes childr