NextGen Day

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court has dismissed a plea brought by a former Nueva Ecija senator challenging the Ombudsman’s decision to indict him in connection with PDAF abuses in 2007.

The SC First Division affirmed the Ombudsman’s resolutions in 2016 and 2017 finding probable cause to charge former Nueva Ecija 4th District Rep. Rodolfo Antonino with malversation and violation of Republic Act (RA) 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act regarding the use of his PDAF, also known as pork barrel, in a resolution posted online on Friday.

“Petitioner (Antonino) failed to show that the Ombudsman acted arbitrarily and capriciously,” the Supreme Court said, adding that it “defers to the Ombudsman’s discretion” because “its finding of probable cause to indict petitioner (Antonino) for two counts of malversation under Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code and two counts of violation of Section 3(e) of RA 3019 is fully supported by the evidence on

Antonino had requested the rapid payment of PHP15 million for livelihood projects, which resulted in the cases.

On Feb. 23, 2007, Antonino requested that then-Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap transfer PHP15 million to the National Agribusiness Corporation after the Department of Budget and Management issued a notice of cash allocation (Nabcor).

The Buhay Mo Mahal Ko Foundation Inc. (BMMKFI), the project implementer, and Nabcor signed a memorandum of understanding.

BMMKFI purchased 7,275 sets of Livelihood Technology Kits (LTKs) from CC Barredo Enterprises on March 22, 2007, for a total of PHP14.550 million.

Nabcor took PHP450,000 from the lawmaker’s PDAF allocation as a management fee.

The LTKs were to be allocated to the congressional district’s city and seven component communities.

The Ombudsman’s Field Investigation Unit discovered that no LTKs were distributed to the intended beneficiaries, and the project implementers were chosen “without complying with the technical, legal, and financial qualifications of a supplier or contractor,” as well as the provisions of the Government Procurement Act governing competitive public bidding.

The Ombudsman also discovered that BMMKFI’s selection was made without the approval of any appropriation law or ordinance, in violation of National Budget Circular No. 476, which only permits the direct release of PDAF allocations to government agencies explicitly named in the project menu of the applicable General Appropriations Act.

Antonino contested the claims, claiming that documents purporting to prove that he delivered his PDAF allotment to Nabcor and BMMKFI had his signatures faked.

He further disputed that BMMKFI and CC Barredo were chosen for livelihood programs, claiming that he was unaware of such plans.

In 2017, the Ombudsman found that the legislator has actual control and custody of the PDAF portion allotted to him.

The SC stated that it “maintains non-interference in the Ombudsman’s evaluation of the existence of probable cause” in refusing Antonino’s challenge to the Ombudsman’s conclusions.

“This derives from the Ombudsman’s constitutional authority to investigate and prosecute illegal, unjust, improper, or inefficient conduct of public authorities,” the member’s defense of forgery must be proven by convincing evidence in a full-fledged trial, according to the lawmaker.

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