A Bacolod Regional Trial Court judge yesterday sentenced a Department of Interior and Local Government employee to 14 years and eight months imprisonment for the crime of estafa for failure to remit P1.6 million he collected for a lending firm.

Sentenced by Judge George Patriarca to 6 years and 1 day as minimum to 14 years , 8 months and 1 day as maximum was Adonis Genito Gargarita, a local government operations officer 2 of the DILG in Negros Occidental.

He was also ordered to pay the Negros Safe Lending Co. actual damages of P1,668,770 plus legal interest of 12 percent per annum effective from the finality of the judgment.

The Commission on Elections has issued subpoenas for several officials in Negros Occidental to appear at electoral protests hearings.

Cadiz City Mayor Patrick Escalante and his brother, Board Member Salvador Escalante, Vice Mayor Samson Mirhan, Gemer Gaang and Pacita Vinas have been subpoenaed by the Comelec Law Department to attend a clarificatory hearing at 3 p.m. today, at the Comelec central office in Manila, for alleged violation of Omnibus Election Code.

Complainants Ernesto Esclares and Jerry Majarucon charged the Escalante brothers, Mirhan, Gaang and Vinas for allegedly engaging in vote-buying, which is a violation of Section 261 of the Omnibus Election Code, during the May 2010 elections in Cadiz City.

Enrique Rojas, president of the National Federation of Sugarcane Planters Inc., yesterday warned the public of the health hazards of artificial sweeteners or sugar substitutes that reportedly have been circulating in the country.

“Sugar withdrawals since the start of the milling in September 2010 have dropped more than 50 percent as of December 12, 2010, compared to the same period last year. This indicates that food and beverage manufacturers have been using sugar substitutes, sugar premixes or even synthetic artificial sweeteners such as magic sugar,” Rojas said.