Napoles, ex-DAR exec guilty in P50-M ‘ghost’ projects case
The Sandiganbayan on Friday found businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles and a former official of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) guilty of malversation, in a case involving the misuse of P50 million in public funds supposedly intended for agricultural projects in Luzon.
Associate Justice Sarah Jane Fernandez read the court’s Sixth Division found Napoles and former Undersecretary Jerry Pacturan guilty of 10 counts of malversation of public funds through falsification of public documents.
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Napoles was also found guilty of graft on 10 counts, but Pacturan was cleared of graft charges.
She was sentenced to up to 20 years in prison for each count of malversation and up to 15 years for each count of graft. Pacturan received a maximum prison term of 19 years for each of the 10 counts of malversation.
The court also ordered them to return P50 million to the national treasury.
Filed by the Ombudsman in 2022, the case involved funds allotted under the DAR’s 2011 budget specifically for farm input assistance to 10 local government units (LGUs) in Luzon.
The money, however, ended up being funneled to 10 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) managed by Napoles, according to the charges.
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‘Innocent’
The businesswoman, now 62 years old, has been convicted several times by the Sandiganbayan and local trial courts for being the brains behind the diversion of congressional pork barrel funds to her NGOs.
The so-called pork barrel scam was exposed through a series of Inquirer reports in 2013.
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Pacturan, who was then the agrarian reform undersecretary for support service, maintained his innocence and announced plans to appeal.
“I am innocent of the accusation and conviction on malversation of public funds. I was the one who investigated these cases and reported within the DAR and the National Bureau of Investigation,” he said in a message to reporters on Friday.
“I have not committed corruption as the court’s other decision showed. I have done the necessary due diligence over the documents passed on to my office then,” Pacturan added.
In a 237-page decision, the court said Pacturan was convicted for conspiring with Teresita Panlilio, then the director for finance and management service, and Rowena Agbayani, then chief accountant, both of the DAR; and with private individuals Napoles, Evelyn de Leon, Ronald John Lim Jr., Eulogio Rodriguez, Simplicio Gumafelix and John Raymund de Asis, to release the amount of P5 million each to these NGOs for the implementation of nonexistent projects.
“This Court finds that through negligence, he permitted the NGOs, and ultimately, accused Napoles, to take the DAR’s funds,” the court stated of Pacturan.
“Accused Pacturan is further specifically charged with entering into the 10 [memoranda of agreement, or MOA] with the pertinent municipalities and NGOs without authority to do so and despite the irregularities in the face of the MOAs,” it also said.
10 NGOs
The 10 Napoles-managed NGOs involved were: Ginintuang Alay sa Magsasaka Foundation Inc., Social Development Program for Farmers Foundation Inc., Gintong Pangkabuhayan Foundation Inc., Karangyaan para sa Magbubukid Foundation Inc., Agri and Economic Program for Farmers Foundation Inc., Kaupdanan Para sa Mangunguma Foundation Inc., Countrywide Agri and Rural Economic Development Foundation Inc., People’s Organization for Progress and Development Foundation Inc., Agrikultura Para sa Magbubukid Foundation Inc. and Masaganang Buhay Foundation Inc.
Napoles was specifically charged for ordering De Leon and her staff to prepare the fabricated letter-requests from the municipal mayors and falsifying their signatures as well as the public notaries in the MOAs.
De Leon then submitted the documents to the DAR to receive the checks and issue the official receipts, according to the court.
She was convicted with three counts each for graft and malversation. De Leon was sentenced to up to 12 years each for three counts of graft; while her malversation conviction also led to up to more than 19 years each for three counts of malversation.
De Leon was acquitted of seven counts each of graft and malversation due to the prosecution’s failure to prove her guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
Napoles attended the promulgation via teleconferencing, while Pacturan and De Leon were present in the court.
Testimonies
Meanwhile, the cases against Gumafelix and Rodriguez were dismissed since they were already deceased, while Agbayani, Lim and De Asis remain at large.
Prosecutors said the 10 LGUs were supposed to receive P5 million in farm inputs, but witnesses from the LGUs testified that these projects were nonexistent.
Eight out of 10 mayors from provinces, including Bulacan, Batangas, Pangasinan and Quezon testified in court, saying that their signatures in the letter requests for funding were fake.
“They made it appear that the mayors endorsed the corresponding LGUs of Napoles,” a member of the prosecution team told reporters on condition of an on-background arrangement. “It turned out these were false because it was denied by the mayors.”