MANILA - A former senior finance official charged in one of the cases involving alleged irregularities in the grant of tax credits to unqualified local firms 25 years ago has been cleared by the Sandiganbayan. In a decision dated April 19, Uldarico Andutan Jr. was acquitted of falsification and graft arising from one of the transactions for tax credits while he was Deputy Executive Director of the Department of Finance (DOF) One-Stop Shop Inter-Agency Tax Credit and Drawback Center. Andutan was charged when he issued a tax credit certificate (TCC), amounting to PHP5.03 million in favor of Columbus Philippines Bus Corporation's purchase of six buses. Government investigators said Columbus was not qualified to avail of tax credit for the said purchases as the buses were acquired from a dealer, not from a domestic manufacturer as required for the incentive. They also said the company supported its application for tax credit with spurious and falsified documents and with the price per