A former Department of Finance (DOF) official and four other persons have been acquitted by the Sandiganbayan over the alleged anomalous grant of more than P15 million tax credits to a firm from 1996 to 1998.
Acquitted were former DOF executive director Uldarico P. Andutan Jr. and then officer Asuncion M. Magdaet, and Express Colour Industries, Inc. employees Ma. Carmencita C. Camara, Sonia G. Carmona and Sonia L. Dacasin.
They, together with other co-accused who remained at large, were charged with two counts of estafa through falsification of official or public documents in violation of Article 315 in relation to Article 191 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) and three counts of violations of Section 3(e) of Republic Act (RA) 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
In acquitting them, the Sandiganbayan said:
“Verily, the totality of the evidence of the prosecution has failed to meet the test of moral certainty and establish such degree of proof necessary to support a conviction. It is fundamental that the burden of proving the guilt of an accused lies with the prosecution who must rely on the strength of its own evidence and not on the weakness of the defense.
"This is a necessary consequence of the right of each accused to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. When moral certainty as to the culpability hangs in the balance, acquittal on reasonable doubt becomes a matter of right, irrespective of the reputation of the accused who enjoys the right to be presumed innocent until the contrary is shown."
With their acquittal, the anti-graft court their bail bonds released and their hold departure orders lifted and set aside.
The cases involved the issuance of tax credit certificates (TCC) issued by the DOF in favor Express Colour on Aug. 5, 1996 for P5,139,791, on June 7, 1997 for P4,419,013, and on March 27, 1998 for P6,077,066.
The prosecution claimed that the firm was not entitled to tax credits due to alleged spurious documents that were submitted.
In its ruling, the Sandiganbayan said “the prosecution failed to prove accused’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt for violation of Sec. 3(e) of R.A. 3019.”
It explained that “the prosecution’s failure to prove its averments: that the suppliers of raw materials were non-existent or have not operated from 1995 to 1998; that indirect exports delivered to garment exporters were fictitious or fraudulent; and that the transfer of TCCs was fraudulent, casts doubt on the basis of the criminal charges.”
At the same time, the court pointed out the “the prosecution failed to sufficiently establish that the documents subject of these cases are spurious or contain false data or information.”
In the same decision, the court ordered the issuance of alias warrant of arrests against seven co-accused -- Faustino Chingkoe, Gloria Eng Eng C. Chingkoe, Gemma Galicia, Vianita Acilo, Luningning Lamson and Rowena Malonzo -- who are at large.
The cases against the seven accused were ordered archived.
The decision was written by Associate Justice Zaldy V. Trespeses with the concurrence of Associate Justices Ma. Theresa Dolores C. Gomez-Estoesta and Georgina D. Hidalgo.