MANILA — In one of its strongest rebukes yet against large-scale misuse of public funds, the Sandiganbayan has handed Janet Lim Napoles another sentence of reclusion perpetua — her latest in a string of convictions tied to the decade-old pork barrel scandal.
The anti-graft court’s Special Third Division, in a sweeping 165-page ruling, found Napoles guilty in two separate malversation cases involving a combined P19 million from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of the late Benguet representative Samuel Dangwa. The court stressed that Philippine law requires reclusion perpetua when the amount malversed exceeds P8.8 million.
In one case concerning P10 million in PDAF allocations, Napoles was convicted alongside former Technology Resource Center deputy director Dennis Cunanan and Countrywide Agri and Rural Economic Development (CARED) Foundation president Mylene Encarnacion. Cunanan was perpetually barred from holding public office.
All three were ordered to pay a P10 million fine and to return the amount to the Bureau of the Treasury, “with a 6% annual interest to accrue from the time the ruling becomes final,” the court said.
A second conviction relating to the alleged diversion of P9 million imposed another reclusion perpetua sentence on Napoles and former National Livelihood Development Corporation (NLDC) president Gondelina Amata. Amata was similarly disqualified from public office. They were likewise directed to pay a P9 million fine and reimburse the same amount to the Treasury, with a 6% yearly interest.
Other accused received penalties ranging from reclusion temporal, which carries a maximum of 20 years, to prisión mayor, which may extend to 12 years. Some were acquitted after the court found the prosecution failed to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
Charges against Dangwa and three others were dismissed due to their deaths, according to the ruling penned by Associate Justice Ronald Moreno.
Napoles — long considered the central figure in the pork barrel scam — was first sentenced to reclusion perpetua in 2018 after being found guilty of plunder. Her latest convictions further cement the court’s stance against the systemic siphoning of public funds through bogus non-government organizations and fraudulent government partnerships./PN
