Sandiganbayan Convicts Janet Napoles and Former DAR Undersecretary in P50-Million Farm Input Scam
Key Takeaways
- •The Sandiganbayan convicted Janet Napoles and former DAR Undersecretary Jerry Pacturan on 10 counts each of malversation through falsification of public documents related to P50 million in diverted farm input assistance funds.
- •Napoles received an additional 10 graft convictions, while Pacturan was acquitted of the graft charges due to insufficient proof beyond reasonable doubt.
- •Former Napoles aide Evelyn de Leon was found guilty on three counts each of malversation and graft and was ordered to reimburse P15 million to the National Treasury.
- •Napoles fabricated request letters, falsified signatures of municipal mayors and notaries public, and routed the funds through 10 NGOs she controlled for projects that existed only on paper.
- •Cases against two defendants were dismissed due to their deaths, while three other accused individuals remain at large.
The Sandiganbayan has convicted businesswoman Janet L. Napoles and former Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Undersecretary Jerry E. Pacturan for the diversion of P50 million in government funds earmarked for farm input assistance projects that were never carried out.
Napoles is the central figure in the 2013 pork barrel scandal, in which billions of pesos in Priority Development Assistance Funds were allegedly funneled through NGOs she controlled. The DAR case follows the same pattern — government funds routed to Napoles-linked NGOs for projects that prosecutors said existed only on paper.
In a 237-page decision promulgated on Friday and penned by Sixth Division Chairperson Associate Justice Sarah Jane T. Fernandez, the anti-graft court found Napoles and Pacturan guilty on 10 counts of malversation through falsification of public documents. The charges stem from the release of P50 million to 10 non-government organizations (NGOs) controlled by Napoles.
The court additionally found Napoles guilty on 10 counts of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. Pacturan, however, was acquitted of the graft charges after the court ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt on those counts.
Both Napoles and Pacturan were ordered to reimburse P50 million to the National Treasury.
Evelyn D. de Leon, a former staff member of Napoles and former president of the Philippine Social Development Foundation, Inc. (PSDFI), was convicted on three counts each of malversation and graft. She was acquitted on the remaining seven counts after the court found the prosecution failed to establish her guilt beyond reasonable doubt. De Leon was ordered to reimburse P15 million.
The court determined that Pacturan conspired with former DAR Finance and Management Service Director Teresita M. Panlilio, former Chief Accountant Rowena B. Agbayani, and several private individuals — including Napoles and De Leon — to facilitate the release of government funds to the 10 NGOs controlled by Napoles for purported farm input projects.
According to the decision, Pacturan executed the 10 memoranda of agreement with the concerned local government units and NGOs without proper authority and despite apparent irregularities in the agreements.
The court further found that Napoles directed the preparation of fabricated request letters, falsified the signatures of municipal mayors and notaries public on the documents and memoranda of agreement, and used these falsified records to facilitate the release of the funds.
The cases originated from the alleged diversion of P50 million in DAR regular funds designated for farm input assistance to 10 local government units in Luzon.
Cases against Simplicio M. Gumafelix and Eulogio B. Rodriguez were dismissed following their deaths. Agbayani, Ronald John Lim, Jr., and John Raymund de Asis remain at large.
— Mark Joseph M. Sanchez