Former Nueva Ecija lawmaker Rodolfo Antonino was acquitted of graft and malversation prices over the alleged misuse of P14.5 million value of his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) as a result of the lawmaker’s accountability over his PDAF ends as soon as the quantity is obtained by the implementing company, in keeping with the Sandiganbayan ruling.
The anti-graft courtroom, in its 94-page determination promulgated final June 1 however was solely launched Monday, invoked the 2013 Supreme Court determination (Belgica v. Ochoa) which states that PDAF, or pork barrel funds, coated by Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) issued by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) will not be thought-about launched.
The similar ruling additionally states that SARO, as outlined by the DBM, is just a particular authority issued to recognized companies to incur obligations not exceeding a given quantity throughout a specified interval for the aim indicated. It additionally mentioned that the discharge of fund acknowledged in SARO remains to be topic to compliance with particular legal guidelines or rules, or is topic to separate approval or clearance by competent authority.
“Because accused Antonino had control over his PDAF allocation, which are, without question, public funds, he was accountable therefore. But this Court must emphasize that accused Antonino was accountable for his PDAF allocation only when he had control thereof, or until the transfer thereof to the Department of Agriculture (DA), and thereafter,” the Sandiganbayan mentioned.
“Applying Belgica [ruling], accused Antonino was accountable for his PDAF allocation only until the issuance of the Notice of Cash Allocation (NCA) by the DBM. Here, NCA No. 336323-1 was issued on February 23, 2007, and hence, he is considered accountable for the subject funds only until the said date,” it added.
The NCA is the go-signal for involved authorities companies to make the fee for the PDAF-funded challenge.
In Antonino’s case, the courtroom was agency that he was not at fault and that the his accountability ended after his PDAF was transferred to the DA, the implementing company.
“After the issuance of the NCA to the DA, which is tantamount to the release of the funds thereto, accountability is transferred to the DA,” the Sandiganbayan mentioned.
“Thereafter, the DA, through its officials, approved Disbursement Voucher No. 07-03-0750 dated March 9, 2007, and issued Land Bank of the Philippines Check No. 0000386568 dated March 14, 2007 in the amount of P15 million to NABCOR, and accused [Encarnita] Munsod and the other National Agri-Business Corporation (NABCOR) officials who had to act together to disburse funds for their intended use, then had collective custody of the said funds, and became accountable therefore,” it added.
The Sandiganbayan additionally famous that whereas Antonino requested the discharge of his P15-million PDAF to the DA and subsequently requested the DA to switch the mentioned quantity to NABCOR a state-run company underneath DA, the prosecution did not show that he selected the non-government group Buhay Mo Mahal Ko Foundation Incorporated (BMMKFI) as challenge accomplice.
“Though the prosecution convincingly proved manifest partiality on accused Antonino’s part when he requested the transfer of his PDAF allocation to NABCOR, the same cannot be used as basis for his conviction because the act done with manifest partiality, as proved by the prosecution, was different from the act alleged in the Informations, i.e., endorsing BMMKFI as ‘project partner’,” the Sandiganbayan mentioned.
Aside from the “whereas clause” within the NABCOR-BMMKFI memorandum of settlement (MOA) stating that Antonino requested that the topic challenge be applied by BMMKFI, to which Antonino was not a celebration, the Sandiganbayan concluded that there’s nothing within the prosecution’s proof to show their allegations.
“Convicting accused Antonino for an act not alleged in the Informations will violate his Constitutional right to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation against him,” the courtroom mentioned. —KBK, GMA Integrated News
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
