Former Cagayan De Oro City congressman Constantino G. Jaraula and four others have been convicted by the Sandiganbayan of graft charges in the accreditation of a non-government organization and the release to it of P3 million in 2003 to 2004 for the purchase of fertilizers.
Aside from Jaraula, also convicted were Department of Agriculture (DA) Budget Officer III Ma. Reina Legaspi Lumantas, Accountant III Claudia Beros Artazo, and Regional Technical Director Joel Semana Rudinas, and private individual Evelyn de Leon of the Philippine Social Development Foundation, Inc. (PSDFI).
They were sentenced to six to 10 years imprisonment with perpetual disqualification from holding public office. Their retirement or gratuity benefits under existing laws were also ordered forfeited.
They were also found civilly liable and held jointly and severally liable in the amount of P3 million which, the anti-graft court said, was used for the improper implementation of the Farm Inputs and Farm Implements (FIFI) Project in the lone district of Cagayan de Oro City.
On the other hand, the court acquitted them of the charge for violation of Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code, also known as malversation. Their co-accused, City Agriculturist Godofredo P. Bajas, has also been acquitted of graft due to the failure of the prosecution to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
Those convicted were involved in the unlawful accreditation of PSDFI, which resulted in the disbursement of P3 million for the purchase of liquid fertilizers to ghost farmer beneficiaries from December 2003 to July 2004.
The anti-graft court said in its decision that Jaraula, Rudinas, Artazo, and Lumantas exhibited bad faith, partiality, and failure to exercise due diligence in the performance of their official government functions when they gave unwarranted benefits to PSDFI which caused the government undue injury in the amount of P3 million.
"It cannot be denied that they were the ones who facilitated the preparation of the requirements for the release of the funds and despite their knowledge of the insufficiency thereof, through their acts, PSDFI was able to get hold of the amount of P3 million to the damage and prejudice of the government," the court said.
On the other hand, the court said the prosecution was unsuccessful in proving how the accused misappropriated the P3 million, or that any of the accused received any money from the P3 million allocation. As a result, they were acquitted of their malversation charge.
"The prosecution failed to prove that the fertilizers were not delivered to CDO City, that the fertilizers were not distributed to farmers, that the fertilizers were inexistent or that they were instead converted to personal use by any of the accused. Despite the number of witnesses presented by the prosecution, it failed to convince the court that the project was inexistent," the decision stated.
The 77-page decision was written by Associate Justice Arthur O. Malabaguio with the concurrence of Associate Justices Geraldine Faith A. Econg and Edgardo M. Caldona.