THE Sandiganbayan convicted former Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) executive director Samuel Aloysius Jardin for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA 3019) for accepting millions in cash from an applicant for a permit from the agency.
The Sandiganbayan sixth division sentenced the defendant to six to 10 years imprisonment with perpetual disqualification from public office. He was also told to turn over the entire P4.6 million he received from the complainant to the court cashier to be remitted to the Bureau of Treasury.
Based on the information filed in 2023, Jardin requested and received P4.6 million from a private person on March 27, 2019 in exchange for helping her obtain a certificate of public convenience (CPC) or a route measured capacity (RMC).
The defendant was appointed by then-President Duterte to the LTFRB in March 2018 but was suspended by former Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade after just one year and subsequently dismissed in December 2020 on orders of the Office of the Ombudsman for grave misconduct.
Prosecutors said the money was delivered by one Michelle Sapangila, who was representing a third party applying for the permit to operate a public transport vehicle.
In the anti-graft court’s 88-page decision dated August 14, 2025 penned by Associate Justice Sarah Jane T. Fernandez, the Sandiganbayan said it found the “positive and categorical declarations” of witness Sapangila more worthy of belief than Jardin’s denial.
While the defendant claimed Lolita Sambile, the contact tapped by Sapangila to intercede for her, was a mere acquaintance, a copy of his marriage contract presented in court showed Sambile was a principal sponsor in his wedding in 1989.
The testimony of Joanne Elmelodan, a member of his staff at the LTFRB, proved more damaging as she disclosed that “Madam Lolit” went to their office “more than 10 times but less than 20 times” and that she was known to them as “ninang of ED (executive director).”
Likewise, a closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage of the meeting between Sapangila, Madam Lolit, and Jardin was presented in court, which the court noted had crucial parts missing and signs of tampering or splicing. However, the video showed the three met in the third-floor hallway of LTFRB from 3:29:20 to 3:32:58 in the afternoon of March 27, 2019.
“Thus, the portion when Madam Lolit would have handed over the P4.5 million to accused Jardin inside his office, as Sapangila stood by the door, is excluded from the submitted CCTV recordings,” the court pointed out.
While Jardin claimed he only had a passing exchange with the two women in which he snapped a remark of “kasuhan mo!” (file charges) when he was hurrying for an exit meeting with the team of auditors from the Commission on Audit, the CCTV footage of their conversation lasted more than three minutes.
Despite the absence of an audio recording, the court held that the length of the conversation among the three belied Jardin’s assertion that he only gave a curt “kasuhan mo!” comment to the two women.
“In conclusion, this Court finds that the evidence shows beyond a reasonable doubt that accused Jardin requested and received from Sapangila the amount of at least P4.6 million, in exchange for the promise of approval of (the) application for CPC covering 32 units of vans. The Court also finds that the defense of denial raised by accused Jardin is not believable and not worthy of credence,” the Sandiganbayan declared.
