THE Sandiganbayan has acquitted former Department of Agrarian Reform Undersecretary Narciso Nieto of two counts of graft and two counts of malversation of public funds filed against him by the Office of the Ombudsman four years ago.
The anti-graft court’s Seventh Division held that the evidence presented by the prosecution did not measure up to the required proof beyond reasonable doubt to sustain a conviction.
It noted that Nieto was not the one who caused undue injury to the government, adding although the government’s money was stolen, it was someone else who profited from the crime.
While the court agreed that Nieto’s signature on certain documents paved the way for the release of the money, it pointed out that he was in no position to scrutinize the transactions submitted for his signature or to scrutinize them for irregularities.
“To sustain a charge of malversation, there must either be criminal intent or criminal negligence. The court’s main finding is that the prosecution failed to prove that accused Nieto acted with manifest partiality, evident bad faith, or gross inexcusable negligence in signing the subject document,” the Sandiganbayan declared.
Trial records showed the P20 million came from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of former senator Gregorio Honasan II.
Honasan wrote on June 27, 2010 to then DAR Secretary Virgilio delos Reyes that he is allocating the said amount to benefit farmers of Gamu and Malig, Isabela through organic farming using a vermicomposting program.
On September 17, 2010, the DAR entered into separate memoranda of agreement with the municipalities of Gamu and Luna Isabela with NGO WorkPhil Foundation as the project partner. Nieto signed on behalf of Delos Reyes in both instances.
Why Luna replaced Malig as LGU recipient was never explained and nobody thought to raise a question.
In 2012, state auditors found that although the money was released, no project materialized.
The municipal treasurer, the budget officer, and the accountant of Gamu all submitted sworn statements telling the court that they did not see a centavo of the money or any sign of the vermicomposting project.
Mayor Manuel Tio saw the documents but disowned the signature on the MOA, saying he never signed anything and the municipal government of Luna did not receive the P10 million project.
There was not a single witness or document to establish why WorkPhil ended up with the taxpayers’ money.
The Sandiganbayan said while the prosecution accused Nieto of being in cahoots with the NGO, there was no evidence that he was even aware that there was a scheme.
It pointed out that the real crime was the non-implementation of the project which the government’s case did not even allege in any of the information.
“While evidence of non-implementation of the project turned out to be crucial for the prosecution, no one was charged for this, and consequently, there was no allegation that accused Nieto was part of a conspiracy to misappropriate government funds for ghost projects,” the court noted.
