MANILA, July 16 — The Sandiganbayan has upheld the rule of law during the first year of the administration of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
This was evident with the anti-graft court’s judicious dispensation of justice in a number of cases filed against several government officials and employees.
In fact, the Sandiganbayan has convicted former Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) chair Camilo Sabio of two counts of violating Section 3(e) of Republic Act No. 3019, or the “Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act”, with the corresponding penalty of six years to 10 years imprisonment for each count, including perpetual disqualification from holding public office.
In a 20-page ruling, the Sandiganbayan found that Sabio’s act of entering into two lease agreements with UCPB Leasing and Finance Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the United Coconut Planters Bank and a sequestered company of PCGG, had caused undue injury to the government in the amount of PHP12,127,610.
Ombudsman prosecutors showed that PCGG, while still owning a total of 27 vehicles, leased from UCPB Leasing a total of 11 service vehicles without the benefit of a public bidding and an earmarked budget for the purpose.
Acknowledgement receipts were presented to show that PCGG leased five service vehicles in 2007 consisting of three Hyundai Starex for PHP3,654,000, one Toyota Innova for PHP973,000 and one Toyota Altis for PHP766,000; and six service vehicles in 2009 comprising of one Nissan Frontier for PHP1,198,110, one Toyota Fortuner for PHP1,447,700 and four Toyota Innova for PHP4,088,800.
The Toyota Fortuner and a Toyota Innova were assigned to Sabio, in addition to an Isuzu Crosswind that was already previously assigned to him.
“Adding the fact that there was no allotment for vehicles leases for the same years, we are left with the incontrovertible conclusion that Sabio was motivated by a dishonest purpose or some moral obliquity and conscious doing of a wrong when he subjected the PCGG, and the government to an expense which was essentially unnecessary given (1) the volume of usable vehicles it already has, and that (2) it was not within the approved budget nor meticulously and judiciously planned,” the Sandiganbayan said.
Meanwhile, the charges against Sabio’s co-accused, namely: former PCGG Commissioners Tereso Javier, Narciso Nario and Nicasio Conti were dismissed, while former Commissioner Ricardo Abcede passed away during the pendency of the case with the Sandiganbayan.
Likewise, the Sandiganbayan has convicted for graft former Deputy Director of the Philippine National Police Training Institute, Philippine Public Safety College Chief Supt. Dionisio Coloma, Jr. for a land deal anomaly.
The anti-graft court sentenced Coloma to suffer the penalty of imprisonment of six to 10 years after he was found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of violation of Section 3 (e) of Republic Act No. 3019.
Evidence proved that Coloma facilitated the purchase of a one hectare lot in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi at the price of PHP1.5 million for the site of a Regional Training School.
Prosecutors of the Office of the Ombudsman (Ombudsman) presented witnesses and documents to prove the anomalies that tattered the 2001 land deal which Coloma brokered with close friends, Rolando and Albia Lim.
The Commission on Audit (COA) found that there were no documents such as disbursement vouchers to support the project.
The audit team also found that the purchase price was exorbitant as the prevailing market price in 2001 was pegged at only PHP9,730 per hectare.
Moreover, the Sandiganbayan has upheld its ruling that dismissed the motion of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) seeking to deny the subpoena for various documents related to the alleged Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam.
In its resolution, the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division denied the AMLC’s appeal against its Feb. 21, 2017 ruling, saying that the release of the documents is important to the plunder case of former Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada.
Estrada had earlier asked the anti-graft court to issue a subpoena for several AMLC reports and memoranda pertaining to the transactions of detained businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles.
Napoles is the alleged “brains” behind the PHP10-billion pork barrel and the PHP900-million Malampaya Fund scams.
Furthermore, the Sandiganbayan has ordered the 90-day suspension pendente lite of Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Regional Director Joel Salvador, Finance Officer Rolando Reyes, Accountant Asterio Tolentino, Jr. and Budget Officer Perlita Mauri.
Salvador, et al. are facing trial for violation of Section 3(e) of Republic Act No. 3019 and illegal use of public funds under Article 220 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC).
In the charge sheet, Salvador, et al. illegally used funds allotted for the ecological solid waste management by causing the diversion of PHP758,998.07 for the rehabilitation and improvement of the Environmental Education and Information Center and the Regional Director’s Office in Baguio City.
Likewise, the construction materials were purchased without any public bidding and the accused were found to have authorized the payment for the materials despite the non-delivery of goods.
“Considering that the validity of the Informations in these cases had already been established with the arraignment of the accused, their preventive suspension is warranted under the premises,” the Sandiganbayan resolution said.
At the same time, the Sandiganbayan has convicted former Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo Mayor Pedro Hautea, Municipal Engineer Norman Lustria and Barangay Tinorian Chairman Manuel Siaotong of three counts of falsification of public/official documents.
The Sandiganbayan sentenced the three accused to suffer the penalty of imprisonment of six to eight years for each count.
They were also meted the accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification from holding public office and were each ordered to pay a fine of PHP5,000 for each count.
Prosecutors from the Ombudsman presented evidence that from December 2000 to January 2001, Hautea, et al. falsified the Project Status Report, Time Book and Payroll and acknowledgement of Turnover and Custody of project to make it appear that the construction of the Tinorian mini-market was already completed.
However, records of the Ombudsman’s probe found that the project was completed only in September 2001.
In its ruling, the Sandiganbayan said that “the accused took advantage of their official functions to commit the falsification when they affixed their respective signatures in the Project Status Report as they are duty-bound to intervene in the preparation thereof as a means to double check the reported status of each project.”
“The falseness of their statement is substantiated by their respective admissions that the construction of the mini-market was delayed,” the Sandiganbayan added.
On the other hand, the Sandiganbayan has found former Angeles City Mayor Francis Nepomuceno guilty beyond reasonable doubt of violation of Sections 3 (e) and 3 (g) of Republic Act No. 3019 for illegally donating a government-owned vehicle in June 2010.
Likewise convicted was Abelardo Pamintuan, Jr., president of Kapanalig Angeles City, Inc.
The Sandiganbayan sentenced the two accused to suffer the penalty of imprisonment of six to ten years for each charge.
Nepomuceno’s conviction came after prosecutors proved that the donation of the Mitsubishi Adventure to Kapanalig Angeles City, Inc., a non-stock, non-profit organization headed by Pamintuan, Jr., a known political ally of the mayor, was made in violation of existing regulations.
The prosecution has proven that the donation violated the Local Government Code (LGC) and the rules on audit which provide that disposable supplies or properties of any government entity cover only unserviceable properties or those which are no longer needed, and that the donation may be made in meritorious cases upon approval of the Sanggunian Panglunsod (SP).
The Mitsubishi Adventure was not reported for disposition prior to the donation.
In August 2010, the COA released an Audit Observation Memorandum “questioning the propriety of the donation considering its adverse effects on the city’s financial condition and recommended its retrieval.”
In its 26-page decision, the Sandiganbayan said that “it is readily seen that the deed of donation executed by accused Nepomuceno is manifestly and grossly disadvantageous to the government because there is no lawfully acceptable justification for his blatant disregard of pertinent rules on the proper disposal of local government property vis-à-vis his mandated responsibility to enforce all laws relative to the governance of the city. For his actions, the city government was deprived of the use of its serviceable vehicle.”
”And if at all, the said vehicle may indeed be disposed of, the city government would have gained more advantage had accused Nepomuceno properly followed the rules on property disposal considering that the donated motor vehicle could have been sold at public auction, or transferred to another government agency,” it added.
Likewise, the Sandiganbayan has convicted former Davao del Sur Governor and now Malita Mayor Benjamin Bautista, Jr. and five others for the illegal procurement of high-end vehicles worth PHP5.5 million in 2003.
Convicted of four counts of violation of Section 3(e) of Republic Act No. 3019 are Bautista, Richard Martel, Allan Putong, Abel Guiñares, Victoria Mier and Edgar Gan.
They were sentenced to imprisonment ranging from six years and one month to eight years for each count and were also ordered perpetually disqualified from holding public office.
Ombudsman prosecutors presented several auditors from the COA who testified that in their special audit, they found that the accused, then members of the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), procured two units of Toyota Hilux 4×4 at PHP1.25 million each, one unit Mitsubishi L300 Exceed at PHP878,919.50 and two units of Ford Ranger 4×4 worth PHP1 million and PHP1.2 million, respectively.
The COA auditors also testified that the high-end vehicles were procured through direct contracting.
In its ruling, the Sandiganbayan said that “based on the testimony of the prosecution’s witness which was uncontroverted, the procurement in these cases were not covered in the annual procurement program” and that there was “haste in the procurement which ultimately benefited the dealers of the brands as no records were presented to show the urgency of the purchase.”
The Sandiganbayan added that “the policy of sticking to a certain specified brand is prejudicial to the interests of the government as it tends to limit the area of acquisition and prevents other prospective qualified bidders from participating in the bidding.” (Perfecto T. Raymundo/PNA)
