The Sandiganbayan has acquitted former Nueva Ecija congressman Rodolfo Antonino of graft and malversation charges over the alleged misuse of his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) amounting to P14.5 million.
In a 94-page decision promulgated last June 1, the anti-graft court, in acquitting Antonino, cited as reference the 2013 Supreme Court decision (Belgica v. Ochoa) which states that PDAF, or pork barrel funds, covered by Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) issued by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) is not considered released.
“Because accused Antonino had control over his PDAF allocation, which are, without question, public funds, he was accountable therefore. But this Court must emphasize that accused Antonino was accountable for his PDAF allocation only when he had control thereof, or until the transfer thereof to the Department of Agriculture (DA), and thereafter,” the Sandiganbayan said.
“Applying Belgica [ruling], accused Antonino was accountable for his PDAF allocation only until the issuance of the Notice of Cash Allocation (NCA) by the DBM. Here, NCA No. 336323-1 was issued on February 23, 2007, and hence, he is considered accountable for the subject funds only until the said date,” it added.
NCA is a cash authority issued by the DBM to cover the cash requirements of government agencies.
The anti-graft court also stated that SARO, as defined by the DBM, “is only a specific authority issued to identified agencies to incur obligations not exceeding a given amount during a specified period for the purpose indicated.”
The release of fund in SARO, as stated in the court ruling, is still subject to compliance with specific laws or regulations, or is subject to separate approval or clearance by competent authority.
In Antonino’s case, the court stated that he did not commit any wrongdoing. “After the issuance of the NCA to the DA, which is tantamount to the release of the funds thereto, accountability is transferred to the DA,” the Sandiganbayan said.
“Thereafter, the DA, through its officials, approved Disbursement Voucher No. 07-03-0750 dated March 9, 2007, and issued Land Bank of the Philippines Check No. 0000386568 dated March 14, 2007 in the amount of P15 million to NABCOR, and accused [Encarnita] Munsod and the other National Agri-Business Corporation (NABCOR) officials who had to act together to disburse funds for their intended use, then had collective custody of the said funds, and became accountable therefore,” it added.
While Antonino requested the release of his P15-million PDAF to the DA and subsequently asked the DA to transfer the amount to NABCOR — a state-run corporation under DA, the anti-graft court said the prosecution failed to prove that he chose the non-government organization Buhay Mo Mahal Ko Foundation Incorporated (BMMKFI) as a project partner.
“Though the prosecution convincingly proved manifest partiality on accused Antonino’s part when he requested the transfer of his PDAF allocation to NABCOR, the same cannot be used as the basis for his conviction because the act done with manifest partiality, as proved by the prosecution, was different from the act alleged in the Informations, i.e., endorsing BMMKFI as ‘project partner’,” the Sandiganbayan said.
“Convicting accused Antonino for an act not alleged in the Informations will violate his Constitutional right to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation against him,” the court said.