Political ally’s conviction shows administration's resolve to stamp out corruption, says Palace

The guilty verdict handed down on Oriental Mindoro Governor Alfonso Umali, Jr., President Benigno S. Aquino III's political ally, proves the government’s seriousness in fighting corruption, a Palace official has said.

"People always say that under the Aquino administration, it is only its enemies that get subjected to court procedures. In this particular case, it shows that that is not the case," Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said.

Umali, the treasurer of President Aquino’s Liberal Party, has been sentenced by the Sandiganbayan to up to 10 years in prison for illegally facilitating a P2.5 million loan to a ship owner in 1994. Umali is serving his third and final term as governor.

"If you are asking what the next step should be, then we leave it up to the legal team of Governor Umali to plot out his next steps. There are legal remedies available to him under the law," Valte said.
Aside from Umali, the court also found former Oriental Mindoro Representative Rodolfo Valencia and former Board Member Romualdo Bawasanta guilty of violating Republic Act No. 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
Valencia and Umali were respectively governor and provincial administrator in January 1994, when the provincial government approved the irregular loan for the repair, operation, and maintenance of a privately owned passenger vessel. (PCOO News Release)