The Sandiganbayan has acquitted former Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Finance Director Teresita L. Panlilio of her graft and malversation charges involving “ghost implementation” of livelihood projects when the prosecution made no effort to present documents other than "mere xerox copies."
"It is the duty of the prosecution to provide sufficient evidence in establishing guilt beyond reasonable doubt. Insufficiency of this standard of evidence will prove fatal to any criminal charge," the court’s seventh division said in its resolution.
Panlilio's charges stemmed from the alleged ghost implementation of the Comprehensive Agricultural Farming for the Marginal Farmers of Misamis Oriental and Camarines Norte in 2008.
The prosecution claimed that on Sept. 3, 2008, Panlilio released P5 million to Singi, Aguit-It, Manlucugan, Mantango, Sabang Multi-Purpose Cooperative (SAMMSMPC) for the implementation of livelihood projects funded by DAR despite several irregularities.
It also claimed that Panlilio and private individual Arnel V. Almadrones pocketed P3.5 million for their own use and benefit.
Panlilio filed a demurrer to evidence, which challenged the strength of the prosecution's evidence presented against her. She said that the certifications introduced by the prosecution could not be given probative weight because they merely stated that the municipalities concerned were not beneficiaries of the livelihood project and nothing more.
She argued that the certifications are not tantamount to proving that the livelihood project was not implemented by SAMMSMPC or that it was non-existent. At the same time, Panlilio said that the prosecution failed to prove her alleged participation in the crimes charged.
Regardless of Panlilio's arguments, the anti-graft court granted her demurrer to evidence because the documentary exhibits provided by the prosecution were merely "certified xerox copies from file."
"But how could the court accord probative value to each documentary exhibit when all of them were admitted to be merely certified photocopies from file?" the resolution stressed.
When Commission on Audit (COA) State Auditor Lionell T. Masagca confirmed that the original documents could not be found, the prosecution "surprisingly" terminated its evidence presentation and rested its case.
"No attempt was made to resort to the introduction of secondary evidence," the court said. "Worst, the investigative findings of the field investigation office (FIO) were never even confirmed during trial," it added.
The court stressed that photocopies of transactional documents would never be enough to sustain a judgment of conviction. "The photocopies derailed the probative worth of the documentary exhibits," the court said.
Seventh Division Chairperson Ma. Theresa Dolores C. Gomes-Estoesta wrote the 29-page resolution with the concurrence of Associate Justices Zaldy V. Trespeses and Georgina D. Hidalgo.
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