The Sandiganbayan has issued an arrest warrant for former Valladolid, Negros Occidental Mayor Romel Patalita Yogore, who remains at large after being convicted of graft.
The Seventh Division of the anti-graft court, led by Associate Justice Zaldy Trespeses, issued the warrant on December 13, 2024, after Yogore was found guilty of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
According to Police Col. Rainerio de Chavez, director of the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (Nocppo), efforts to locate the former mayor have so far been unsuccessful. The Valladolid Municipal Police Station attempted to serve the arrest warrant at his residence in Barangay Poblacion on January 5, but Yogore was not found.
Authorities subsequently returned the warrant to the Sandiganbayan and informed the court that he could not be located. Nocppo has since launched a manhunt operation and requested an alias warrant to facilitate his immediate arrest.
Conviction for Graft
Yogore was convicted for his role in the irregular purchase of construction materials worth PHP230,395 for the municipal rural health unit in 2008. The materials were procured from a store owned by his brother-in-law, Jonie Nieve, without undergoing public bidding, violating government procurement laws.
The case was filed in 2010 by local broadcast journalist Larry Concepcion. The Sandiganbayan found Yogore guilty in 2019 and sentenced him to six years and one month to eight years in prison. He was also permanently disqualified from holding public office.
Yogore appealed his conviction to the Supreme Court, but his petition was denied on March 3, 2022. The decision became final and executory on March 29, 2024.
Police Efforts to Locate Yogore
Police Capt. Judesses Catalogo, Nocppo’s public information officer, confirmed that a team has been deployed to track down Yogore.
“This is part of standard operating procedures. Our team is conducting an intensified manhunt operation to ensure that the former mayor is brought to justice,” Catalogo said.
Meanwhile, seven other individuals initially linked to the case were acquitted. However, the former municipal engineer and vice chairman of the local bids and awards committee pleaded guilty to a lesser offense and was fined PHP5,000.
Authorities urge anyone with information on Yogore’s whereabouts to report it to the police.