FORMER Iloilo Rep. Judy Syjuco has been convicted by the Sandiganbayan of charges of frauds against public treasury and failure of an accountable officer to render accounts after approving her plea bargain deal with government prosecutors.
In a 10-page Decision, the Third Division fined the former lawmaker P10,000 for the first offense and P6,000 for the second one with no jail term.
Before being allowed to plead guilty to lesser offenses however, the court made sure Syjuco has paid up P5,964,859.09 in cash as restitution for the use of public fund in the same amount in the bogus procurement of 1,582 mobile phone units in 2004.
Graft investigators said money used in the transaction came from the former lawmaker’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) but the contract was awarded to a dubious supplier without public bidding.
Syjuco was originally charged with violation of RA 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and malversation of public funds in 2016 after the Office of the Ombudsman found probable cause to support criminal indictment.
Prosecutors said the supplier, West Island Beverages Distributor, did not sell mobile phones but only pre-loaded phone cards. There was also no proof that the contractor purchased Nokia 1100 phones between December 2004 to February 2005 — the period during which the transaction was supposed to have taken place.
Despite her plea deal, the lawmaker insisted that the evidence against her is weak but explained that she opted to plead guilty to lesser offenses to spare the court from a protracted and adversarial process.
The Sandiganbayan however emphasized that the return of public fund and Syjuco’s admission of culpability do not count in her favor.
“The Court holds that the restitution of the subject amount in these cases cannot be appreciated to mitigate the criminal liability of accused Syjuco because… the said accused’s restitution was a mere afterthought. In fact, it was a pre-condition imposed by the prosecution. Thus, the restitution of the amount of Php5,964,859.09 by accused Syjuco was not purely voluntary or in the exercise of her good conscience,” it pointed out.
