FORMER Iloilo Rep. Judy Syjuco has struck a plea bargain agreement with the Office of the Ombudsman in relation to her pending criminal cases, but the Sandiganbayan Third Division deferred approving the deal due to an unfulfilled pre-condition set by the prosecution.
In a resolution issued September 1, 2022, the anti-graft court noted that the former lawmaker has not yet paid the P5,964,859.09 restitution cost imposed by the prosecution as a condition for its conformity to the plea bargaining agreement.
“Accused Syjuco is hereby ordered to pay to the Court the amount of Five Million Nine Hundred Sixty Four Thousand Eight Hundred Fifty Nine Pesos and Nine Centavos (Php5,964,859.09) as full restitution… either in cash or in Manager’s Check payable to the Sandiganbayan within five days from notice hereof,” the court declared.
The resolution was penned by Presiding Justice Amparo M. Cabotaje-Tang, with Associate Justices Bernelito R. Fernandez and Ronald B. Moreno concurring.
The cases involved allegations that P5.9 million from the former lawmaker’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) went to a bogus procurement of 1,582 mobile phone units in 2004.
Graft investigators said there was no public bidding for the purchase and the supposed supplier, West Island Beverages Distributor, did not sell mobile phones but only pre-loaded phone cards.
An affidavit submitted by a sales executive of Smart Communications also attested that West Island made no purchase of Nokia 1100 phones from December 2004 to February 2005 — the period during which the transaction was supposed to have taken place.
In lieu of standing to be tried for graft and malversation of public funds, Syjuco said she is willing to withdraw her not guilty plea and to plead guilty instead to lesser offenses of frauds against public treasury and failure of accountable officer to render accounts.
She, however, requested that only fines be imposed on her by way of penalty.
On July 26, 2022, the defense and the prosecution submitted a joint motion to approve a plea bargaining agreement.
However, the prosecution required that “Syjuco shall fully restitute first” the sum of P5,964,859.09 before she is allowed to withdraw her earlier plea of not guilty and to plead guilty to lesser offenses.
Syjuco said she wants to spare the court from a “long-drawn protracted and adversarial processes” as she intends to devote her remaining years in peace with her family.
Her counsel informed the Sandiganbayan that at 78, she is already suffering from various ailments, including depression and anxiety and is no longer mentally and physically fit to attend court hearings.
However, she insisted that the evidence against her is weak, asserting that there is no proof of conspiracy with other defendants or that she received a portion of the funds involved in the transaction.
Named co-defendants in the graft charge were former DOTC Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) chairman Domingo Reyes, Jr., vice-chairman Elmer Soneja, and members Rebecca Cacatian, Ildefonso Patdu, Jr., Geronimo Quintos, and Venancio Santidad as well as DOTC Inspector Marcelo Desiderio, Jr., storekeeper Antonio Cruz, and DOTC Technical Inspector Danilo Dela Rosa. Included as private defendant was Domingo Samuel Jonathan Ng, representing West Island.
