ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Ex-TESDA officials acquitted of graft charges

Ex-TESDA officials acquitted of graft charges

Published Jan 30, 2021 12:14 pm

The Sandiganbayan Fourth Division has acquitted several former officials of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Cotabato Provincial Office Region XII of graft charges arising from the reportedly irregular operation of a Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Institution back in 2009.

MANILA BULLETIN FILE

Then Provincial Director Florante L. Herrera, CPO UTPRAS Focal Person Alex G. Labanon, and UTPRAS Focal Person Frank Beltran of TESDA Cotabato Provincial Office Region XII, together with private individuals Salli Vee L. Salvanera, Rolando A. Ortiz, Michael Angelo L. Orsonal, Eldura Cabacungan, Aurora B. Nesperoz, Rizalito A. Nesperos, and Ervin C. Biongan, all of the Kidapawan Assessment and Training Center (KATC), were initially slapped with violations of Sections 3(e) and (j) of R.A. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

They were accused of endorsing and approving the application of KATC to operate a TVET Institution, thereby causing TESDA's payment of P3,472,200 to KATC for courses it allegedly offered despite KATC not having met the minimum standards by law as a TVET program provider.

According to Beltran, the Information filed against them were "fatally defective" as KATC did not apply for accreditation as TVET Institution. Rather, it applied for the registration and accreditation of its TVET Programs under the UTPRAS.

Beltran added that he did not have any hand in the recommendation and approval of KATC's registration and accreditation of TVET Programs under UTPRAS since he was not connected with Unified TVET Program and Accreditation System (UTPRAS) at the time material to the case.

Meanwhile, Nesperos, Biongan, and Orsonal said the elements of graft were not present in the Information filed against them.

The anti-graft court said in its ruling that KATC applied for the program registration under UTPRAS and has conformed to the requisites enumerated by TESDA.

At the same time, the prosecution was found to have failed in establishing that the accused acted with manifest partiality, evident bad faith, and gross inexcusable negligence in giving unwarranted benefits to KATC.

"Hence, the prosecution failed to discharge its duty to establish with moral certainty the essential elements of the offenses charged. Thus, the Court must acquit the accused," the decision read.

The 59-page decision was written by Associate Justice Lorifel Pahimna with the concurrence of Fourth Division Chairperson Alex Quiroz and Associate Justice Bayani Jacinto.

ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.