FORMER Veterans Federation of the Philippines (VFP) president Bonifacio De Gracia was acquitted of two counts of violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA 3019) filed against him by the Office of the Ombudsman last year.
In a 37-page decision promulgated yesterday (November 5), the Sandiganbayan First Division declared that other than showing that the accused was a public officer during the time material to the case, the prosecution failed to prove all the other key elements of the criminal offense charged.
“We find no evidence on record that would show that the accused was motivated by evidence of bad faith or manifest partiality. When evidence of the prosecution fails to prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt, the court must acquit,” the Sandiganbayan said.
Associate Justice Maria Theresa V. Mendoza-Arcega penned the ruling, with the concurrence of Associate Justices Bayani F. Jacinto and Juliet M. Manalo-San Gaspar.
De Gracia was accused of giving preference to IBEX Communication Technologies Inc. allegedly for approving six lease contracts with the latter at rates per square meter that were “far below fair market value” of the leased properties between November 2016 and May 2018.
Prosecutors said the lease deals did not have the approval of the Secretary of National Defense and were not reviewed by the VFP Executive Board.
The transactions referred to were the leases on 4,283 square meters (dated December 22, 2017); 10,000 sqm (dated May 17, 2018); 11,260 sqm (dated November 22, 2016) and 740 sqm (dated March 31, 2017) renewed on a single contract covering 12,000 sqm (dated December 22, 2017); and an undated contract for 5,240 sqm (notarized on March 31, 2017).
The information did not state how much rent IBEX Communication was paying in each of the properties.
However, a Technical Working Group from the House of Representatives said there were 38 lease contracts inside the VFP Industrial Complex (VFP-IC) with rental rates ranging from P25 per square meter to P210 per square meter.
The prosecution cited a statement from the City Assessor of Taguig that the prevailing fair market value that applies to VFP-IC from 2016 to 2018 was P2,500 per square meter based on the Sangguniang Panlungsod Ordinance No. 113.
On the other hand, an executive of property appraisal company Value Metrics Inc. said the actual market value of the nearby 120-hectare Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) property sold to Ayala Land Inc. in 2012 was assessed at P32,000 per square meter.
In his defense, De Gracia argued that all the contracts he signed were based on the approved rental rates for the VFP Industrial Complex.
He added that the VFP has a standard lease contract previously reviewed and approved by the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) and that each of the contracts questioned by the prosecution passed through the VFP Executive Board.
He said he only happened to sign the contracts because he became VFP president by succession after former agency president Emmanuel de Ocampo died on December 26, 2015. De Gracia held the top post in VFP until he was removed from office on May 30, 2018 through DND Department Order No. 184 signed by then-Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.
The accused said that before joining VFP, he was a former Philippine Army Colonel with 25 years of service without being implicated in any irregularity.
In handing down an acquittal, the Sandiganbayan held that there was insufficient evidence to show that the lease contracts were grossly disadvantageous to the government.
“The prosecution failed to prove that the lease contracts signed and executed between the accused and IBEX were irregular. In fact, a close look …would reveal that they did not deviate from the standard lease contracts executed by the previous VFP president,” the court noted.
Likewise absent was evidence that De Gracia unilaterally decided to enter into the lease contracts as it was not disputed that “no contract or transaction can be entered into without the approval of the VFP Executive Board.”
“Conviction must rest no less than on hard evidence showing that the accused, with moral certainty, is guilty of the crime charged. Short of these constitutional mandate and statutory safeguard …the Court is left without discretion and is duty bound to render a judgment of acquittal,” the Sandiganbayan said.