Former Rep. Gregorio Tocmo Ipong of the 2nd District of North Cotabato has been convicted by the Sandiganbayan Third Division on graft and malversation charges involving the anomalous use of his P9.6 million priority development assistance fund (PDAF) in 2007.
Ipong was sentenced to imprisonment of six years and one month as minimum to 10 years as maximum for his graft conviction. For his malversation conviction, he was slapped with 12 years and one day of reclusion temporal as minimum to 18 years and eight months and one day of reclusion temporal as maximum. He has been sentenced to suffer perpetual disqualification from holding public office.
Ipong was convicted alongside Technology and Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC) Deputy Director General Dennis Cunanan and Chief Accountant Marivic Jover, who have been handed the same sentence.
They are ordered to solidarily pay a fine of P9.6 million equal to the amount malversed and to indemnify the government the said amount with legal interest of six percent per annum, reckoned from the finality of the decision until full satisfaction.
Meanwhile, the case against private individual Alfredo Ronquillo has been ordered dismissed by reason of his death, while the case against Director General Antonio Ortiz is archived because he remains at large.
Ipong endorsed Aaron Foundation Philippines, Inc. (AFPI) to implement livelihood projects in the 2nd district of North Cotabato without the benefit of public bidding. At the same time, AFPI was unaccredited and unqualified to undertake the projects.
He conspired with TLRC for the release of his PDAF in 2007. However, Ombudsman investigators discovered that the said livelihood projects were non-existent.
In its ruling, the anti-graft court said that there were several deficiencies when Ipong, Ortiz, and Ronquillo entered into a memorandum of agreement (MOA). There were no identified beneficiaries for the project, nor were there standards for project implementation, systems and procedures for project implementation, and project cost estimates and time schedules.
The TLRC even accredited AFPI and released the funds to it based merely on the endorsement letter of Ipong. "TLRC was remiss in carefully examining and verifying the accreditation and qualification of AFPI as well as the sufficiency of the MOA," the decision read.
Despite Ipong's claim that he merely recommended AFPI to become the implementor of his PDAF, his letter dated March 6, 2007 to TLRC proved otherwise, showing that he "appointed" AFPI as a conduit of his office.
"Notably, his endorsement letter was one of the attachments in the disbursement voucher which was the basis of TLRC in processing the disbursement. Without such endorsement letter, TLRC could not have released the funds to AFPI," the court stressed.
The anti-graft court added that the purported livelihood project was not even duly implemented by AFPI, so Ipong negligently appointed AFPI while Cunanan and Jover negligently allowed the disbursement of public funds to the non-government organization.
"To this day, no reports were made as to the implementation of the livelihood project and the public funds transferred to AFPI remained unliquidated," the decision said. "It was even discovered that the office address of AFPI was a vacant lot. Likewise, there is nothing on record which proves that there were actual beneficiaries of the said project."
The 40-page decision was promulgated on September 11 by Associate Justice Ronald Moreno with the concurrence of Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang and Associate Justice Bernelito Fernandez.