Raps vs. Devanadera upheld
The Office of the Ombudsman has affirmed the criminal charges filed against former Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera and three others in connection with the allegedly unlawful grant of allowances from funds received by the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC), which Devanadera also used to head.
In a memorandum approved Oct. 21, the Ombudsman’s Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) denied the motions for reconsideration and for reinvestigation filed by the accused.
Devanadera and former chief of staff Rolando Faller, Assistant Government Corporate Counsel Jose Marie Capili, and accountant Divina Gracia Cruz were charged with malversation and violation of the antigraft law before the Sandiganbayan in connection with Devanadera and Faller’s receipt of allegedly unauthorized attorney’s fees and funds for the purchase of reading materials that supposedly never materialized.
Not entitled to fees
Devanadera allegedly received P500,000 in attorney’s fees and P100,000 for reading materials when she headed the OGCC, while Faller got P200,000 in attorney’s fees and P30,000 for reading materials in connection with their work for the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).
The OSP maintained that Devanadera and Faller did not have the authority to receive attorney’s fees for the GSIS project. It said the special assessment fees that the OGCC receives from its clients should be used for specific purposes such as funding office activities and procuring office equipment and supplies.
It threw out the argument of the accused that they were allowed to receive attorney’s fees as provided for under the Administrative Code. It said the Administrative Code refers to attorney’s fees awarded to OGCC’s clients in judicial proceedings, which is not the case with the GSIS transaction.
There is no OGCC rule that grants to any member of its legal staff the authority to receive attorney’s fees from the special assessment fees paid by its clients, it added.
The OSP also said the accused could not claim they mistakenly interpreted the law and regulations in this case.
“As well-educated, high-ranking officers of the OGCC, they are presumably familiar with, or if not, they should have familiarized themselves with, the manner in which the special assessment fees in the trust liability account of the OGCC should be treated,” it said.
It pointed out that Devanadera herself issued the office order providing the guidelines on the use of the trust fund and the special assessment fees collected by the OGCC.
Injury to gov’t
As for the P130,000 for reading materials, the OSP said Devanadera and Faller failed to account for the amount.
It said that even if Government Corporate Counsel Alberto Agra had remitted to the OGCC the P130,000 as payment for the reading materials, there was still an injury because the government was deprived of the use of the funds from the time the accused received them up to the time that Agra remitted them to the OGCC.
The OSP transmitted the findings to the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division, which earlier ordered it to resolve the motions filed by the accused.
