RETIRED Brig. Gen. Reynaldo Lingat, former Philippine Retirement Authority deputy general manager, has been acquitted by the Sandiganbayan on three separate charges of violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA 3019), along with eight other agency officials and three private suppliers.
In a 131-page decision promulgated July 31, 2025, the anti-graft court’s Fourth Division held that the prosecution’s evidence fell short of the required proof beyond a reasonable doubt to secure a conviction against the defendants.
Associate Justice J. Ermin Ernest Louie R. Miguel penned the ruling with Associate Justices Michael Frederick L. Musngi and Lorifel Lacap Pahimna concurring.
The cases, filed in 2019, alleged that the PRA held simulated tree planting activities between November to December 2009 in Pasig City, Marikina City, Quezon City, and Cainta only to divert the budget for the activity into Christmas cash incentives of P5,000 each for all agency personnel.
Government auditors and graft investigators from the Office of the Ombudsman said the bulk of the money intended for the purchase of tree seedlings and gardening equipment was returned by the suppliers after deducting their tax and cuts and the money was distributed by the accused PRA officials to employees without requiring acknowledgment receipts.
The Sandiganbayan, however, said the accusations were not backed by sufficient evidence to establish the criminal culpability of the accused.
“The prosecution failed to present persuasive, admissible evidence that there were procurement irregularities such as the alleged overpricing of saplings; the claim that the garden tools were excessive, extravagant, and unnecessary; and the assertion that most, if not all, of the garden tools were not delivered,” the court said.
Besides Lingat, also acquitted were Marketing Department manager Noehl Bautista, department manager Orlando Habitan, Administration and Promotion Division chief Loreto Morgia, Financial Management Division chief Evelyn Tansiongco, Servicing Division officer-in-charge Pedro del Espiritu, cashier Virgilio Alonzo, and Information Technology Officer Teresita Aganan.
Private defendants Roderick Natanauan of Natanauan Plant Nursery, Jasmine del Rosario of Sherlane Marketing, and Celeste Napigkit of Speedline International Trading were likewise cleared of liability.
Prosecutors said the cost of P450 per mahogany sapling was overpriced since the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) was giving away such seedlings for free with due coordination.
During the trial, State Auditor Marissa Fajardo-Pariñas admitted that she did not personally conduct a canvass of prices of mahogany seedlings, saying she relied on a “friend” to obtain the information that the going rate was P30 per seedling.
However, the defense pointed out that what was planted were not small seedlings but saplings that were already four to five meters high, for greater potential for survival, hence the difference in cost.
Countering the allegation of simulated planting of a token number of trees, five PRA employees testified that they participated in the tree planting activity and they received P5,000 later. Another employee said he used the gardening tools and noticed that they were all brand new.
