Former Nueva Ecija lawmaker Rodolfo Antonino was acquitted of graft and malversation charges over the alleged misuse of P14.5 million worth of his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) because the lawmaker’s accountability over his PDAF ends once the amount is received by the implementing agency, according to the Sandiganbayan ruling.
The anti-graft court, in its 94-page decision promulgated last June 1 but was only released Monday, invoked the 2013 Supreme Court decision (Belgica v. Ochoa) which states that PDAF, or pork barrel funds, covered by Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) issued by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) is not considered released.
The same ruling also states that SARO, as defined by the DBM, is only a specific authority issued to identified agencies to incur obligations not exceeding a given amount during a specified period for the purpose indicated. It also said that the release of fund stated in SARO is still subject to compliance with specific laws or regulations, or is subject 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 said.
“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 concerned government agencies to make the payment for the PDAF-funded project.
In Antonino’s case, the court was firm that he was not at fault and that the his responsibility ended after his PDAF was transferred to the DA, the implementing agency.
“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 said.
“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 also noted that while Antonino requested the release of his P15-million PDAF to the DA and subsequently asked the DA to transfer the said amount to NABCOR a state-run corporation under DA, the prosecution failed to prove that he chose the non-government organization Buhay Mo Mahal Ko Foundation Incorporated (BMMKFI) as project partner.
“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 said.
Aside from the “whereas clause” in the NABCOR-BMMKFI memorandum of agreement (MOA) stating that Antonino requested that the subject project be implemented by BMMKFI, to which Antonino was not a party, the Sandiganbayan concluded that there is nothing in the prosecution’s evidence to prove 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 court said. —KBK, GMA Integrated News
