A LOCAL court has convicted a former corporate secretary of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) for a 6-8-year prison term for certifying that a memorandum of agreement (MOA) transfering about P40 million worth of equipment had been ratified and approved.

No such MOA, however, exists.

 Deputy special prosecutor Jesus Micael from the Office of the Ombudsman said the nine-page decision was handed down by the Regional Trial Court in Olongapo City against Hedy Esmade-Diaz, a lawyer.

The decision was penned by presiding judge Richard A. Paradeza.

“[The accused] was guilty beyond reasonable doubt for falsification of document defined and penalized under Article 141, paragraph 4 of the Revised Penal Code,” said Micael, quoting from the court’s decision.

Records of the case revealed that during an inventory of the properties of the SBMA after the agency’s May1998 board of directors’ meeting, it was discovered that certain numbers of equipment and vehicles were missing and were later traced transferred to the city government of Olongapo on the basis of a purported Joint Redevelopment and Administration Agreement (JRAA) and MOA.

In her secretary’s certificate dated July 16, 1998, Diaz stated: “During the 190th regular meeting of the board of directors of the SBMA held last May 6, 1998, at which a quorum was present, the following resolution was unanimously approved: Resolved, as it is hereby resolved, that the memorandum of agreement between the city of Olongapo and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority [SBMA] for SBMA to provide the city of Olongapo hospital equipment, public utilities and vehicle is hereby ratified, confirmed and approved.”