Napoles, 2 ex-gov’t officials convicted anew for graft over pork barrel
For the second week in a row, two former officials of the defunct Technology Resource Center (TRC), along with businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles and one of her aides, were found guilty of graft for the fraudulent use of congressional “pork barrel” funds.
The Sandiganbayan, in a decision on Thursday, convicted former TRC deputy director general Dennis Cunanan, TRC group manager Maria Rosalinda Lacsamana, Napoles and Evelyn de Leon of Masaganang Ani para sa Magsasaka Foundation, Inc. (Mamfi) for illegally disbursing to a bogus organization then Cibac party list Rep. Joel Villanueva’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) totaling P1.17 million from 2007 to 2009.
They were each sentenced to up to 10 years in prison and meted out a penalty of perpetual disqualification from public office.
Napoles was also ordered to return to the government P1.17 million, representing the amount disbursed in the illegal transaction, because only her civil liability was established.
The court, however, acquitted all four of them on two counts of malversation of public funds, citing the prosecution’s “failure to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.”
The case was based on the TRC’s tapping of nongovernment organizations (NGOs) to implement proposed agricultural livelihood projects using Villanueva’s PDAF.
In finding Cunanan liable for graft, the Sandiganbayan said that he was “at fault and shown to have acted negligently in signing the [disbursement vouchers] which prompted the disbursement of government funds.”As TRC group manager, Lacsamana also committed gross inexcusable negligence when she issued the release memorandum, which certifies a project for budget disbursement, “without ascertaining whether a memorandum of agreement was already executed and notarized.”In the case of Napoles, the prosecution was able to pinpoint that she had access to the bank accounts of bogus NGOs, including Mamfi, and directed their presidents, such as De Leon, to execute or sign blank withdrawal slips for the scheme.
De Leon, on the other hand, was found guilty for her role in preparing a fake list of beneficiaries and bogus supporting documents to make it appear that Mamfi legally implemented the livelihood project.
On May 30, the court’s Special Seventh Division also found the four guilty of graft for siphoning off P3 million of former Muntinlupa Rep. Rozzano “Ruffy” Biazon’s PDAF in 2007. They were each sentenced to up to eight years.
