The Sandiganbayan has affirmed the conviction of former Iloilo 2nd District Rep. Judy J. Syjuco and former Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) director general for field operations Santiago M. Yabut Jr. on the misuse of the former legislator’s P20 million in Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) in 2006.
Sujuco and Yabut had been sentenced to a prison term ranging from six to eight years for each of their two criminal cases involving violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
Together with Tagipusuon Cooperative president Maria Nelia E. Yniesta, who was also convicted, they were also ordered to pay jointly civil liability of P6.9 million and banned perpetually from holding public office.
Only the motions for reconsideration filed by Syjuco and Yabut were resolved in the resolution written by Associate Justice Oscar C. Herrera Jr. with the concurrence of Associate Justices Michael Frederick L. Musngi and Bayani H. Jacinto.
In denying Syjuco and Yabut’s motions, the Sandiganbayan said: “After a meticulous review of the records, the Court finds, and so holds, that the grounds raised by the accused have already been considered by the Court when it rendered the decision dated Nov. 12, 2021.”
The late former TESDA Director General Augusto L. Syjuco Jr. had been included in the two counts of graft cases. But on account of his death in 2020, the Sandiganbayan had dismissed the charges against him.
In its decision, the Sandiganbayan said the pieces of evidence presented by the prosecution “more than sufficiently established the required quantum proof for the conviction of the accused of the offenses charged.”
The anti-graft court said that “accused Yniesta, as president of Tagipusuon Cooperative, joined the aforementioned public officials in signing a MOA (Memorandum of Agreement), receiving the P20M from TESDA and in purportedly implementing the project of purchasing books, uniforms, and school supplies for elementary and high school students in the 2nd District of Iloilo.”
It said that the “PDAF funds of accused Judy Syjuco in the total amount of P20M was misused in violation of law and contrary to applicable rules and regulations.”
The court cited the 2011 findings of the Commission on Audit (COA) which noted several deficiencies.