Again, the Sandiganbayan has convicted the now detained businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles of graft and malversation of public funds and sentenced to life imprisonment.
This time, she was found guilty in the misuse of the P35 million Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of former Ilocos Sur 1st District congressman Salacnib F. Baterina who was acquitted of the charges.
Napoles, together with former Technology and Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC) executive Belina A. Concepcion and private individual Godofredo Roque were found guilty of two counts of graft and two counts of malversation of public funds.
She was also found guilty of graft in another case together with TLRC Group Manager Maria Rosalinda M. Lacsamana and private individual Evelyn D. De Leon. The three of them were also convicted in one malversation case.
For the first two graft convictions, they were sentenced to suffer the indeterminate penalty of six to 10 years imprisonment for each count with perpetual disqualification from holding public office.
They were also ordered to indemnify the government and return to the national treasury, jointly and severally, P25 million, which represents the amount wrongfully and illegally disbursed.
While Baterina was acquitted, he was ordered to indemnify the government of P25 million jointly and severally with those convicted.
Former TLRC deputy director General Dennis L. Cunanan, Francisco B. Figura, chief accountant Marivic V. Jover, and Maurine E. Dimaranan were acquitted of the same charges for failure of the prosecution to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
For the other graft conviction, Napoles, Lacsamana, and De Leon were sentenced to six to 10 years imprisonment with perpetual disqualification from holding public office. They were also ordered to indemnify the government and return to the national treasury, jointly and severally, P10 million, which represents the amount wrongfully and illegally disbursed.
Baterina was also ordered to indemnify the government P10 million together with those convicted.
Former Department of Budget and Management (DBM) undersecretary for operations Mario L. Relampagos, Budget and Management Specialist Rosario Salamida Nunez, Administrative Assistants VI Lalaine Narag Paule, Marilou D. Bare, former Technology and Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC) officials Dennis L. Cunanan, Francisco B. Figura, Chief Accountant Marvic V. Jover, and Dimaranan have been acquitted of the same graft charge for failure of the prosecution to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
Napoles, Concepcion, and Roque were sentenced to reclusion perpetua for each count of malversation of public funds. They were ordered to pay a fine of P25 million and suffer perpetual disqualification from holding public office.
Baterina, Cunanan, Figura, Jover, and Dimaranan were acquitted of the same two malversation charges for failure of the prosecution to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
For the other malversation charge, they were sentenced to reclusion perpetua and ordered to pay a fine of P10 million, which is equivalent to the amount malversed.
Baterina, Relampagos, Nunez, Paule, Bare, Cunanan, Figura, Jover, and Dimaranan were ordered acquitted for failure of the prosecution to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
Meanwhile, Baterina was acquitted of his direct bribery charge for failure of the prosecution to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
The cases against former TLRC director general Antonio Y. Ortiz, private individuals Carlos Soriano and France A. Mercado were ordered archived since they remain at large. The case against former Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) chairperson Zenaida Garcia Cruz-Ducut, who has been found unfit to stand trial, has also been archived until she is found capable to undergo trial.
The accused were faulted for their involvement in the selection of the non-government organizations (NGOs) Philippine Social Development Foundation Inc. (PSDFI) and Kaagapay Magpakailanman Foundation Inc. (KMFI), which was owned by Napoles, as "project partners" in the implementation of Baterina's PDAF, with TLRC as the implementing agency.
There were three special allotment release orders (SAROs) issued -- two SAROs worth P10 million and P15 million were issued with KMFI as the NGO, while the third SARO worth P10 million had PSDFI as the NGO.
Baterina was acquitted in the decision promulgated on Oct. 27 because it was successfully proven that his signatures in the documents were forged. "There is no evidence to sufficiently prove that accused Baterina had any participation in the conspiracy to commit the crimes charged," the decision said.
"Apart from the testimonies of witnesses and documents preferred as evidence containing his forged signatures, the prosecution had no other means of showing his supposed 'indispensable participation' in the anomalous use of the PDAF funds," it added.
On the other hand, the anti-graft court found that the body of evidence "indisputably reveals the fraudulent scheme" employed by Napoles and the others in the disbursement and use of Baterina's PDAF.
"In these cases, the prosecution was able to show that accused Concepcion, Lacsamana, Napoles, De Leon, and Roque, through their concerted acts, with evident bad faith and manifest partiality, resulted in giving KMFI and PSDFI, and in turn, accused Napoles, unwarranted benefits," the decision said.
The 60-page decision was written by Associate Justice Edgardo M. Caldona with the concurrence of Associate Justices Arthur O. Malabaguio and Rafael R. Lagos. Second Division Chairperson Associate Justice Oscar C. Herrera and Associate Justice Ronald B. Moreno offered dissenting opinions.
Napoles has already been convicted in five other cases before the Sandiganbayan. Her first conviction was in the plunder case involving Senator Ramon "Bong" Revilla and the second was the graft and malversation case against former Cagayan de Oro Rep. Constantino G. Jaraula.
Her third conviction was for two graft and two malversation charges involving the P15.36 million PDAF of the late Davao del Sur 1st District Rep. Douglas R. Cagas.
The fourth conviction included Davao del Norte Rep. Arrel R. Olaño, which was due to the misuse of Olaño's P7.72 million PDAF back in 2007.
The fifth involved former Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives (APEC) partylist representative Edgar De Leon Valdez, in which she was convicted of nine counts of corruption of public officials.