Sandiganbayan clears LLDA chief Acosta, mom of perjury raps over pork barrel transfer

MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan has junked for lack of evidence the perjury case filed by the Office of the Ombudsman against Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) general manager Nereus Acosta and his mother, former Mayor Socorro Acosta of Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon.

The case was in relation to the alleged unlawful transfer of P5.5 million of Acosta’s pork barrel to the Bukidnon Vegetable Producers’ Cooperative (BVPC), a private firm owned by his family, when he was still a Bukidnon representative in 2006.

In a 25-page ruling, the anti-graft court’s Fifth Division granted the separate demurrers to evidence, which the mother and son filed due to the failure of the prosecution to present evidence enough to convict them for perjury.

The Ombudsman had accused the Acostas of falsely claiming that the municipal council of Manolo Fortich had approved a resolution allowing the transfer of the funds to BVPC, an allegation that they both denied.

While it was true that the municipal council did not pass such resolution, the court said the Ombudsman’s original graft complaint was never presented as evidence against the Acostas.

It said the evidence submitted by the government lawyers “is insufficient in proving that… the statement under oath was upon a material evidence.”

The court said although Acosta and his mother claimed in their counter-affidavit that the town council’s had approved the fund transfer, this false claim “does not make either of the accused liable for perjury.”

“It mush be emphasized that perjury is the willful and corrupt assertion of a falsehood under oath or affirmation administered by authority of law in a material matter,” the court said in its Jan. 22 decision.

“Thus, a mere assertion of a false objective fact or a falsehood is not enough. The assertion mush be deliberate and willful,” it added.

The ruling was written by Associate Justice Ma. Theresa Dolores Estoesta. Associate Justice Roland Jurado, Fifth Division chair, and Associate Justice Alexander Gesmundo concurred in the decision.  SFM