DONNING a stoic face, jailbird Janet Napoles cared less during the Sandiganbayan’s promulgation of criminal cases embarking on a similar scheme that sent her to jail 13 years ago.
On Friday, the Sandiganbayan found Napoles guilty of malversation and graft cases involving the misuse of P50 million in public funds supposedly intended for agricultural projects in Luzon.
In its decision, the anti-graft court’s Sixth Division sentenced 62-year old Napoles to 20 years for each of the 10 counts of malversation and 15 years for each of the 10 counts of graft — for a cumulative jail time of 350 years.
The Sandiganbayan also found Napoles’ co-accused, former Agriculture Undersecretary Jerry Pacturan, guilty of malversation through falsification of public documents. He was sentenced to a jail time of 19 years for each of the 10 counts.
Associate Justice Sarah Jane Fernandez also ordered Napoles and Pacturan to return P50 million to the national treasury.
Filed by the Ombudsman in 2022, the case involved DAR’s 2011 allotted allocation for farm input assistance to 10 local government units (LGUs) in Luzon.
The funds however were funneled to 10 non-government organizations (NGOs) that were created by Napoles herself — for embezzlement purposes.
The NGOs involved in the case 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.
For Napoles, promulgation has become boring and predictable. She has been convicted multiple times for the same criminal cases involving similar schemes for which she earned the moniker of “Pork Barrel Queen.”
Meanwhile, Pacturan maintained his innocence. He hinted at appealing the case.
“I am innocent of the accusation and conviction of malversation of public funds. I was the one who investigated these cases and reported within the DAR and the National Bureau of Investigation,” reads a message sent to reporters.
“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 Sandiganbayan’s 237-page decision, Pacturan was convicted for conspiring with former DAR Director for Finance and Management Service Teresita Panlilio and former DAR Chief Accountant Rowena Agbayani and Napoles, to release the amount of P5 million to each of the 10 NGOs.
