A SPECIAL division of five Sandiganbayan justices has acquitted former Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr. and two former executives of the National Agri-Business Corp. (Nabcor) of charges of graft and malversation of public funds.
In the 63-page majority decision penned by Associate Justice Michael Frederick L. Musngi, the Special Fourth Division held that the prosecution failed to prove the guilt of the defendants beyond reasonable doubt.
Aside from Tupas, also cleared by the anti-graft court were former Nabcor Administrative and Finance head Rhodora Mendoza and General Services Unit head Romulo Relevo.
Associate Justices Lorifel Lacap Pahimna and Maryann E. Corpus-Mañalac concurred in the acquittal of all three defendants.
On the other hand, Associate Justice Sarah Jane T. Fernandez submitted a dissenting vote on the acquittal of Relevo in the malversation case.
Associate Justice Bayani H. Jacinto, in his separate concurring and dissenting opinion, voted to convict both Relevo and Tupas on the malversation case.
The charges filed by the Office of the Ombudsman in 2018 involved allegations of irregularities in the disbursement of the P5 million Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or “pork barrel” allocation of the Iloilo lawmaker.
Prosecutors said the sum was released to the Nabcor but P4.85 million ended up with a non-government organization identified as the Kabuhayan at Kalusugan Alay sa Masa Foundation Inc. (KKAMFI).
In acquitting Tupas, the court held that the PDAF transactions are necessarily post-enactment in nature and that lawmakers are given discretion to identify the purpose and beneficiaries of projects or programs to be funded.
It held that the Tupas’ recommendation of KKAMFI did not amount to manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross in excusable negligence as he enjoyed such discretion at the time.
On the other hand, Relevo and Mendoza were also cleared of liability as the court noted that the release of the fund to KKAMFI necessarily followed due to the existence of its selection as an NGO partner which gave rise to the necessity to implement the project.
