A former ally of then President Benigno Simeon Aquino III has been charged at the Sandiganbayan for allegedly misusing his P4.85-million pork barrel on “ghost projects” in 2008.
Former Iloilo congressman Niel Tupas Jr. was charged with two counts of graft, and one count each of malversation and the complex crime of malversation through falsification when he endorsed the Kabuhayan at Kalusugan Alay sa Masa Foundation Inc. (KKAMFI) as conduit for his Priority Development Assistance Fund allocations for livelihood projects.
Tupas’ pork funds were supposed to purchase buy hand tractors, water pumps, and grafted fruit seedlings. But field investigators said the mayors of the municipalities of Ajuy, Batad, Estancia, Lemery, San Rafael and Sara in eastern Iloilo province denied having received the farm implements.
Tupas, a Liberal Party stalwart, led the prosecution of late Chief Justice Renato Corona in the impeachment trial over corruption allegations.
The Ombudsman said the KKAMFI was “unaccredited and unqualified” to carry out the livelihood projects funded by PDAF.