THE Sandiganbayan Third Division has convicted 15 former executives of three government-owned or controlled corporations (GOCCs) and two officers of non-government organizations (NGOs) over 36 criminal charges filed by the Office of the Ombudsman in 2017.
All 36 cases involved the alleged fraudulent release of P62 million from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel allocations of former Misamis Occ. Rep. Marina Clarete from 2007 to 2009.
Associate Justice Ronald B. Moreno penned the 195-page decision, with Presiding Justice Amparo M. Cabotaje-Tang and Associate Justice Bernelito R. Fernandez concurring.
The convicted GOCC officials were from the National Agribusiness Corp (Nabcor), National Livelihood Development Corp (NLDC), and Technology Resource Center (TRC).
Convicted from Nabcor were former vice president Rhodora Mendoza, Human Resource supervisor Encarnita Munsod, General Services supervisor Victor Roman Cacal, Support Services manager Romulo Relevo, and bookkeeper Maria Ninez Guañizo.
Of all the accused, Mendoza had the most convictions with eight counts each of graft and malversation of public funds. She was sentenced to 48 to 80 years imprisonment for the graft cases and 60 to 90 years for malversation.
Munsod is facing jail terms of 56 to 87 years; Cacal 24 to 43 years; Relevo 28 to 43 years; and Guañizo 24 to 43 years.
From NLDC, found guilty of multiple counts of graft and malversation were former president Gondelina Amata (48 to 83 years), Assets Management Group director Emmanuel Alexis Sevidal (48 to 83 years), Finance and Administrative Group director Chita Jalandoni (48 to 83 years), Asset Management Division chief Gregoria Buenaventura (48 to 83 years), chief budget specialist Ofelia Ordoñez (48 to 83 years), and former chief financial analyst Sofia Cruz (32 to 51 years).
Convicted from TRC were former deputy director general Dennis Cunanan (16 to 27 years), Technology and Information Dissemination Group manager Maria Rosalinda Lacsamana (24 to 43 years), chief accountant Marivic Jover (8 to 16 years), budget officer Consuelo Lilian Espiritu (24 to 43 years),
Among the private defendants, Kabuhayan at Kalusugang Alay sa Masa Foundation, Inc. (KKAMFI) president Flerida Alberto was convicted on six counts each of graft and malversation of public funds for which she was sentenced to 72 to 126 years.
Aaron Foundation Philippines Inc. (AFPI) representative Pio Ronquillo was held liable on two counts each of graft and malversation of public funds punishable by 24 to 43 years in jail.
“The modalities of manifest partiality, evident bad faith, and gross negligence are all present in the questioned transactions. The transactions involving the PDAF of accused Clarete in these cases, particularly the grant of the funds to the NGOs, …were undertaken without due regard to existing laws and regulations,” the Sandiganbayan said.
It pointed out that the GOCC officials ignored legal infirmities in the memoranda of agreement they entered with the NGOs with doubtful or non-existent office addresses, overlapping series of numbers of official receipts, and non-submission of financial statements.
“Here, the Court finds that the accused allowed the awarding of the PDAF-funded projects and the transfer of PDAF-drawn public funds to KKAMFI, KMBFI, and AFPI despite their questionable legal and physical existence,” the Sandiganbayan said.
It added that evidence presented during the trial established that the NGOs submitted “falsified certifications, reports, invoices, and lists of beneficiaries” which the GOCCs and Clarete verified and certified as “correct and proper.”
“The prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused in these cases were remiss of their duties when they failed to exercise diligence in ensuring compliance with the basic and minimum requirements demanded by the applicable law, rules, and regulations, despite notice,” the court added.
