THE Sandiganbayan Sixth Division has affirmed its September 13, 2022 decision finding former Cotabato Rep. Gregorio Ipong and former Technology and Livelihood Resource Center chief accountant Marivic Jover guilty of graft and malversation of public funds.
In a resolution promulgated last November 18, the anti-graft court denied separate motions for reconsideration filed by both defendants seeking reversal of their conviction.
The two were sentenced to six to 10 years imprisonment for graft and 10 to 17 years for the malversation case or a total of 16 to 27 years together with former TLRC deputy director general Dennis Cunanan. All three were barred from holding any other government position and were ordered to individually pay a fine in the sum of P4.9 million and to indemnify the government in the same amount.
They were accused of conspiracy regarding the fraudulent transfer of P4.9 million from Ipong’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or “pork barrel” allocations to a private foundation on May 3, 2007.
The Sandiganbayan noted that Ipong personally selected and endorsed AFPI as project partner for his PDAF-funded livelihood projects that were supposed to benefit poor and marginalized residents of his district.
Cunanan and Jover were found to have “knowingly processed, approved, and subsequently released to AFPI” the lawmaker’s PDAF even if the NGO was not accredited by the government.
While admitting that he endorsed the Aaron Foundation Philippines Inc (AFPI) to TLRC as project partner, Ipong argued that doing so did not amount to manifest partiality or gross inexcusable negligence.
Instead, he blamed TLRC officials, saying it was the latter that had “the duty to verify and ensure compliance” by AFPI to the Commission on Audit’s Circular No. 96-003 defining the qualifications and requirements for accreditation of a non-government organization.
In addition, the former lawmaker claimed that the prosecution failed to prove its allegation that the training and livelihood projects funded by his PDAF were not implemented in the second legislative district of Cotabato. He pointed out that no witness was presented to testify on the issue.
