MANILA - The Sandiganbayan has acquitted eight barangay officials in connection with supposed irregularities in the purchase of a laptop computer for the town nine years ago. In its decision dated February 28 and published online on Wednesday, the anti-graft court's Seventh Division reversed the ruling of the Jordan, Guimaras Regional Trial Court Branch 65 and acquitted Rodolfo Galila, Mae Isabel Arevalo, Jose Henry Parcon III, Maribeth Galgo, Generoso Galgo, Nelly Badilla, Letecia Gedaca and Girlie Gaquit. Galila, the barangay chairperson, and the other accused who are concurrently members of the council and Bids and Awards and Committee of Barangay Poblacion in Nueva Valencia town had been charged with the awarding a 2013 contract for the purchase of a laptop worth PHP33,929 from Lawrence Glass and Aluminum Construction Enterprises. The charge sheet said the transaction caused undue injury to the government and gave unwarranted benefit to the supplier which was not an eligible bidder as it was not engaged in the business of selling computer products but in the business of selling glass and aluminum supplies. The accused claimed there had been nothing irregular in indicating the brand name of the laptop computer in the purchase request and said the supplier not only sold construction supplies but also office supplies, cellphones, and school supplies as well and had in fact sold similar computer units to other barangays. The lower court convicted the accused, noting that the transaction proceeded although the supplier had been unregistered with the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) as required by government procurement laws. The defense cited that the PhilGEPS registration requirement came into effect in 2016 and that the 2013 transaction did not fall under its coverage. "All told, it is important to emphasize that convictions in criminal cases must flow only from the moral certainty that guilt has been established beyond a reasonable doubt. The presumption of innocence which every accused enjoys in his or her favor is a basic constitutional principle that imposes upon the prosecution the burden of proving that the accused is guilty of the offense charged by proof beyond a reasonable doubt." the graft court said. (PNA) }