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Sandiganbayan acquits private individual in 'fertilizer fund scam' in Cagayan
Sandiganbayan acquits private individual in 'fertilizer fund scam' in Cagayan
A private individual reportedly involved in the alleged P5 million fertilizer fund scam in Cagayan in 2004 has been acquitted by the Sandiganbayan for failure of the prosecution to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
Acquitted was Ramon A. Aytona of Feshan Phils., Inc., who was co-accused of former Cagayan congressman Francisco N. Mamba Jr., Tuao town mayor William N. Mamba, and nine others in the graft cases.
The charges against the Mambas and the other town officials had been ordered dismissed by the Supreme Court (SC) in 2022. Only the case against Aytona was left for resolution by the anti-graft court.
The graft charges involved the purchase from Feshan of 3,333 bottles of BIO-NATURE Liquid Organic Fertilizer at P1,500 per bottle for a total of P4,999,500.
The prosecution said that the purchase was made without public bidding, and the choice of BIO-NATURE was "baseless without any project proposal, report, program of work from the proponent and a market survey of available fertilizers for the needs of the beneficiaries."
During trial, the prosecution tried to prove Aytona's guilt by providing the counter-affidavit of witness Teresita Espinosa who pinned Aytona as the one who prepared the pro-forma purchase order, disbursement voucher, and official receipts.
However, the anti-graft court refused to give evidentiary credence to the counter-affidavit because of the doctrine of res inter alios acta, which means that the right of a party cannot be prejudiced by an act, declaration, or omission of another.
"Applying the foregoing doctrine, since the Counter-Affidavits were executed by the accused public officials and employees of the municipality of Tuao, Cagayan, accused Aytona's former co-accused herein, during the preliminary investigation of this case, the same cannot prejudice the rights of accused Aytona," the decision stated.
"On reasonable doubt, therefore, the scales of justice tilted in accused Aytona's favor," it also stated.
The 46-page decision was written by Associate Justice Gener M. Gito with the concurrence of Fifth Division Chairperson and Associate Justice Zaldy V. Trespeses and Associate Justice Maryann E. Corpus-Mañalac.