Ex-Cordillera police chief pays P2.5M in compromise deal over unexplained wealth case

MANILA, Philippines – Former Cordillera police chief Eugene Martin and his family have paid the government P2.5 million under a compromise agreement approved by the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan in relation to their unexplained wealth case.

Under the compromise deal between the government and the Martin family, the latter agreed to pay P2.5 million in case in exchange for the termination of their forfeiture case over the alleged unexplained wealth case amounting to P9.064 million.

The Sandiganbayan Fourth Division said in its decision that the compromise agreement is “not contrary to law, morals, good customs, and public policy.” 

The court also recalled the writ of preliminary attachment against the Martins’ assets earlier seized by the Sandiganbayan sheriffs.

Associate Justice Michael Frederick Musngi penned the decision with concurrences from Associate Justice Lorifel Lacap Pahimna and Associate Justice Bayani Jacinto.

Martin, his wife, and their three children were named as defendants In the petition for forfeiture filed in 2013. The amount involved – P9,063,728.20 – constituted the alleged undeclared assets of Martin, who was the acting regional director of the Cordillera Administrative Region Police Regional Office when the case was filed.

The case was triggered by the discovery of the Deputy Ombudsman for the Military and Other Law Enforcement Offices (MOLEO) that Martin’s declared net worth excluded several assets.

In his Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALNs), he declared only P2.583 million in 1999 and P3.809 million in 2003.

These SALNs did not include a residential lot and a cockpit arena in Pugo, La Union; residential houses and lots in Baguio City; and several vehicles registered in the names of his wife and a son.

The assets garnished by the Sandiganbayan sheriffs included two China Banking Corporation accounts in the Martin couple’s, containing over P4 million. 

On March 11, 2022, the defendants initially offered to pay P2 million under a proposed compromise agreement. The amount was later increased to P2.5 million.

On March 22, 2024, the two parties made a joint submission to the Sandiganbayan, seeking its approval of the proposed compromise agreement that Ombudsman Samuel Martires had earlier approved.

Earlier in April, the government submitted a certified true copy of an official receipt showing the Martin family’s payment of P2.5 million to the Office of the Ombudsman in fulfillment of their commitment under the compromise agreement – Rappler.com