The Sandiganbayan has convicted former Albay 3rd District Rep. Reno G. Lim and former Technology Resource Center (TRC) deputy director general Ma. Rosalinda M. Lacsamana of their four graft and four malversation charges involving the misuse of P27 million development assistance fund (PDAF) in 2007.
They were sentenced to six to 10 years for each of their graft convictions with perpetual disqualification from holding public office. They were also ordered to indemnify the National Treasury of P27 million, the amount wrongfully and illegally disbursed.
In their two malversation charges, Lim and Lacsamana were sentenced to reclusion perpetua (a maximum of 40 years imprisonment) and were ordered to pay a fine of P12 million, the amount malversed.
In their two other malversation charges, they were sentenced to 10 to 12 years imprisonment and ordered to pay a fine of P1.5 million.
TRC Deputy Director General Dennis L. Cunanan, Chief Accountant Marivic V. Jover, and Budget Officer-in-Charge Consuelo Lilian R. Espiritu were acquitted for failure of the prosecution to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
The cases against former TRC director general Antonio Y. Ortiz and private individuals France A. Mercado, Carlos Soriano, and Carmelita Barredo have been archived as they remained at large.
The criminal charges arose from the release of Lim's PDAF for the purchase of 8,000 sets of livelihood instructional materials and technology kits.
The prosecution told the court that Lim specifically chose TRC as the implementing agency for his project, and he also chose the Kaagapay Magpakailanman Foundation, Inc. (KMFI) as its non-government organization partner.
The court was also told that the livelihood projects were never implemented as KMFI lacked the necessary track record to carry out the projects.
In his defense, Lim claimed that his only participation in the PDAF allocation was his request for its release from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). He added that his signatures were forged in the letters addressed to the TRC director general.
But even after reviewing Lim's signatures and the ones he claimed were forgeries, the Sandiganbayan said there is no "glaring or stark variations in their general appearance."
"The acts of accused Lim in endorsing KMFI and disregarding its clear lack of capacity or qualification and accreditation requirements, entering into memoranda of agreements only to renege on his responsibilities and signing false Project Proposals and Accomplishment Forms indubitably prove manifest partiality and evident bad faith on his part," the court said.
It also said that Lacsamana "aided" Lim when she permitted the disbursement of the subject PDAF by signing two disbursement vouchers and causing the release of the checks in favor of KMFI.
On the acquittal of Cunanan, Jover, and Espiritu, the court said that aside from their signatures on the disbursement vouchers, the prosecution failed to show any other act that would link them to the crimes charged.
Associate Justice Edgardo M. Caldona wrote the 41-page decision with the concurrence of Second Division Chairperson Oscar C. Herrera Jr. and Associate Justice Arthur O. Malabaguio.