Janet Lim-Napoles. INQUIRER.NET FILE PHOTO
ALABEL, Sarangani—The Sandiganbayan decision to convict and sentence to life in prison two incumbent provincial board members and seven former officials of the province for involvement in a 2003 case of pork barrel fund theft should serve as a lesson to all government officials, according to the anticorruption group that worked hard to have the case filed and tried.
The case, though smaller in terms of the amount involved, is similar to the one that detained pork barrel plunder alleged mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles and her alleged cohorts—Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Juan Ponce Enrile and Ramon Revilla Jr.—are now facing for the theft of at least P10 billion in public funds through the pork barrel system.
The Sarangani case involved the use of bogus organizations, similar to the modus operandi allegedly employed by Napoles to amass hundreds of millions of pesos of taxpayer money through the pork barrel of the three senators and several other legislators.
If the Sarangani case would be a barometer, however, the case that Napoles is facing could also drag on for 11 years and if conviction would come, it would be well past the year 2020.
Rev. Avelino Sichon, chair of Sarangani People’s Action for Reform and Good Governance (Spare-Go), told the Inquirer that the Sarangani case should serve as a lesson for all government officials.
“This case should make public officials realize that there’s such a thing as accountability,” Sichon said.
“Truth and justice triumphed after 11 years of pursuing the case,” he said.
It was Spare-Go that spearheaded the filing of the charges.
Sichon admitted that he “was so touched” because even if it the decision came 11 years after the case had been filed, “it shows that there’s still hope for justice in this country.” Some of the original accused had died before the decision came out.
On Thursday, the Sandiganbayan sentenced to life incumbent board members Cornelio C. Martinez Jr. and Eugene
L. Alzate, former board members Lelibeth Canillo-Prospero, Hernando L. Sibugan, Juanito H. Purisima, Marlind L. Marcelo, Redempto Y. Abiso and Jesus H. Desedilla, and former executive assistant Amelia Constantino-Zoleta.
In addition to the life terms, they were ordered to each pay a P475,000 fine and to jointly indemnify Sarangani province in the amount of P475,000. They were also disqualified from holding public office for life.
The 33-page decision was penned by Associate Justice and First Division Chair Efren N. de la Cruz.
The case stemmed from the diversion of the late Sarangani Rep. Erwin Chiongbian’s Countrywide Development Fund (CDF), then the official term for pork barrel. Based on the charge sheet, the convicts put up bogus organizations and pocketed Chiongbian’s pork through these bogus groups.
The scam was uncovered and exposed by an employee, Mary Ann Gadian. Gadian was then working as a computer operator in the office of the late Vice
Gov. Felipe K. Constantino.
Constantino, who was one of the original accused, fired Gadian in the aftermath of her exposé.
He eventually turned state witness in what the Commission on Audit described as the systematic looting of at least P46 million from Sarangani’s coffers during the three-year term of then Gov. Miguel Escobar. Aquiles Z. Zonio, Inquirer Mindanao