FOR filing a demurrer to evidence without leave of court, private defendant Janet Napoles is now barred from presenting evidence in a graft case pending against her before the Sandiganbayan Second Division.
Associate Justice Arthur O. Malabaguio penned the 12-page resolution dated August 5, 2022 that denied Napoles’ Demurrer to Evidence, where she challenged the sufficiency of the prosecution’s evidence to support the allegations against her.
Napoles is accused of involvement in the alleged fraudulent handling of the P12 million Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel allocations of former Nueva Ecija congressman and now Governor Aurelio Umali.
The Office of the Ombudsman charged Napoles for one count of violation of Section 3(e) of RA 3019 as founder of Masaganang Ani para sa Magsasaka Foundation Inc. (MAMFI), a non-government organization (NGO).
Prosecutors said the MAMFI received four checks of P1.8 million, P4.2 million, P2 million, and P4 million from Umali’s PDAF allocations while another P3 million went to a second NGO, Philippine Social Development Foundation Inc. (PSDFI), also linked to Napoles.
Likewise denied by the court were motions for reconsideration filed by co-accused Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Unit 3 (DA-RFU 3) acting regional director Renato Manantan, and private defendants Anita Tansipek, Corazon Bautista and Evelyn de Leon, president of PSDFI.
Tansipek is the president of the Samahan ng mga Manininda ng Prutas sa Gabi Inc. (SMPGI) while Bautista is a collector. SMPGI reportedly received P3 million from Umali’s PDAF in three separate transactions in December 2005.
The PDAF sums were supposed to fund farm assistance projects but graft investigators and state auditors verified that none of the projects existed.
The charges against Umali were dismissed by the court in 2019 on the ground of inordinate delay, noting that the original complaint was filed way back 2008 but the cases reached the court only in 2019.
Napoles had sought leave of court to file a Demurrer to Evidence but this was denied by the Sandiganbayan in a June 2, 2022 resolution.
“Accused Napoles, in filing the instant demurrer to evidence despite the denial of her motion for leave …is deemed to have waived her right to present evidence,” the anti-graft court said.
While Napoles can still participate in future proceedings, she will no longer be allowed to adduce documents or present testimonies of witnesses in her defense and her case would be decided based on the evidence of the prosecution.
However, for an orderly disposition of the cases against her co-defendants, the court informed Napoles that the decision on her case will be made once the rest of the accused have presented their evidence.
