Another GMA co-accused in PCSO plunder case acquitted

Facacde of the Centennial Building that houses the Sandiganbayan. INQUIRER FILES

The Sandiganbayan First Division has granted the demurrer to evidence of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) board member Fatima Valdes, thus acquitting her of the charge of plunder.

In its resolution promulgated March 30, the anti-graft court said the prosecution failed to prove that Valdes conspired with members of the board in plundering the PCSO’s P366 million confidential intelligence funds.

READ: GMA co-accused seeks dismissal of PCSO plunder case 

The court reiterated its earlier decision granting the demurrer to evidence of the other accused board officials Manuel Morato, Raymundo Roquero, Jose Taruc V and former Commission on Audit head Reynaldo Villar that the prosecution failed to prove the board conspired with each other in plundering the confidential funds.

This earlier decision also applied to the case of Valdes because they are all similarly situated, the court said.

The court in that earlier decision ruled: “There is no sufficient evidence on record that the directors herein had diverted any PCSO funds to themselves, that they raided the public treasury by conveying and transferring into their possession and control any money or funds from PCSO account.”

“Considering that accused Valdes, Morato, Roquero and Taruc were all members of the Board of Directors of the PCSO and are similarly charged of the same offense, and considering further that accused Morato, Roquero and Taruc bad been acquitted in this case, the Court has no choice but to acquit accused Valdes as well,” the court said in its resolution now acquitting the former PCSO official.

The resolution was penned by Division chairperson Associate Justice Efren Dela Cruz and concurred by Associate Justices Geraldine Econg and Bernelito Fernandez.

Valdes’ demurrer to evidence was granted a few months after she came out of hiding and surrendered to authorities upon returning from New Zealand October last year.

Valdes resurfaced after the Supreme Court cleared former president now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo and PCSO budget official Benigno Aguas of plunder and released them from detention. Arroyo was under hospital detention for four years.

READ: Arroyo’s co-accused surrenders, pleads not guilty to plunder

Former PCSO board chairman Sergio Valencia’s plunder charge was downgraded to malversation.

Former PCSO general manager Rosario Uriarte has also surfaced from hiding to face the case.

In its earlier decision acquitting the other board officials, the court said the PCSO directors were not privy to Uriarte’s requests for the additional intelligence funds, and that Uriarte’s request and then president Arroyo’s “OK” on the intelligence fund requests were “exclusively between the two of them.”

“There is no evidence that the accused directors were privy to any of Uriarte’s requests or in the utilization of the additional funds given to her office. Neither did the board give any imprimatur thereon. There was no preconceived plan or agreement,” the court then ruled.

Arroyo walked free in July last year after the Supreme Court junked her remaining plunder case for insufficiency of evidence.

READ: SC junks remaining Arroyo plunder case, sets her free 

The plunder charge filed against Arroyo involved allegedly diverting P366 million in PCSO intelligence funds intended for charity use for her personal gain during her term as President from 2008 to 2010.

The high court said Arroyo’s approval of the P366-million intelligence fund releases was only ministerial and did not constitute an “overt act” to commit plunder.

READ: SC: Arroyo OK on fund release not overt act of plunder