Court denies Biazon appeal, sets arraignment for ‘pork’ raps

Former Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner and current Muntinlupa City Rep. Ruffy Biazon. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

The Sandiganbayan Seventh Division has denied the motion for reconsideration filed by Muntinlupa Rep. Rufino “Ruffy” Biazon against the court’s indictment of him for malversation, graft and direct bribery over the pork barrel scam.

In a resolution dated Aug. 16, the anti-graft court said it denied the motion for reconsideration filed by Biazon on the court’s resolution dated June 23 finding probable cause to try him on the charges.

“Wherefore, in view of the foregoing, accused Rozzano Rufino Biazon’s motion for reconsideration dated July 11, 2016 is denied,” the court said.

The court set his arraignment on Sept. 6, 8:30 a.m.

In its resolution, the court said it found no new arguments in Biazon’s appeal, which contained the same arguments he had already raised in his previous motion for judicial determination of probable cause.

As to Biazon’s claim that he could not be held liable for the mess involving his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) because the pork barrel did not go through him but directly to the implementing agency, the court pointed out that the information filed against him was for conspiring with other officials to abuse his PDAF.

“We are not convinced. Assuming that, as accused Biazon argues, it is the implementing agency (Technology Resource Center or TRC) that has the responsibility to keep custody of and account for his PDAF allocation, the finding of probable cause against him will still stand,” the court said.

“This is because the information alleges conspiracy between accused Biazon, the accused TRC officials, and his other co-accused in the instant case,” the court said.

The court also denied the motion for reconsideration filed by Biazon’s co-accused dismissed Budget Undersecretary Mario Relampagos, who was accused of fast tracking the pork barrel fund releases to lawmakers involved in the scam.

“At the outset, we note that both of the motions for reconsideration filed by Biazon and Relampagos basically pose the same arguments raised in their respective motions for judicial determination of probable cause,” the court said.

“However, we do not consider the motions to be pro-forma… Nonetheless, the motions lack merit,” it added.

Biazon was charged with graft, malversation and direct bribery for allegedly receiving P1.95 million kickbacks from his Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF) for his alleged dealings with accused mastermind Janet Lim Napoles to convert his pork barrelt into ghost projects for commissions.

READ: Biazon seeks dismissal of pork barrel scam cases

In his motion to dismiss the case, the resigned Customs commissioner and Liberal Party stalwart denied that he received kickbacks by dealing with his alleged agent Zenaida Ducut, the former Energy Regulatory Commission chief accused of being the middle person between Biazon and Napoles.

READ: Aquino ally Biazon faces pork barrel scam charges

The Office of the Special Prosecutor filed one count each of malversation, graft and direct bribery against Biazon for his alleged criminal acts as Muntinlupa representative in 2007.

Biazon is an ally of then President Benigno Aquino III under the Liberal Party. He resigned as Customs commissioner in 2013 after the Department of Justice included him in the pork barrel scam complaint.

Charged with Biazon is his alleged agent Ducut, a former Pampanga representative who purportedly acted as an agent for Napoles in the House of Representatives.

Ducut was said to have toured Napoles in the House of Representatives, according to whistleblower Merlina Suñas.

READ: Lady solon accompanied Napoles during House pork ‘rounds’—witness

According to the malversation charge, Biazon with Ducut and Napoles “willfully, unlawfully, and feloniously appropriate, take, misappropriate, and or allow Napoles to take public funds” worth P2.7 million.

Biazon allegedly misappropriated P3 million of his PDAF to Napoles’ bogus foundation Philippine Social Development Foundation (PSDFI), which implemented Biazon’s pork barrel funds intended for livelihood projects for the barangays (villages) of Muntinlupa.

Biazon and his respondents were also charged with violating Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for causing undue injury to government in coursing his pork barrel funds to the spurious foundation without public bidding, committing evident bad faith, manifest partiality and gross inexcusable negligence.

The project using Biazon’s PDAF turned out to be non-existent.

“Biazon and the above-named public officials appropriated, took, misappropriated, and/or allowed Napoles and her cohorts, through PSDFI, to take possession and thus misappropriate PDAF-drawn public funds instead of implementing the PDAF-funded projects, which turned out to be non-existent,” the prosecution said.

Biazon was also charged with direct bribery for allegedly receiving P1.95 million from Napoles in exchange for his endorsement of her NGO to receive his pork barrel funds.

“Biazon, through Ducut, received commissions and/or ‘kickbacks’ from Napoles in consideration of his participation and collaboration as described above,” the prosecution said.

The prosecutors said Biazon endorsed the foundation to the implementing agency which was supposed to implement the project without conducting a public bidding.

Biazon chose the implementing agency Technology Resource Center (TRC) to course his PDAF to the bogus foundation.

Biazon belonged to the second batch of lawmakers sued before the Office of the Ombudsman for their alleged involvement in the scheme of diverting their PDAF to ghost projects for kickbacks. IDL/rga

READ: Biazon, four others face malversation, graft raps over pork barrel scam