The Sandiganbayan has convicted former National Livelihood Development Corp. (NLDC) official Gondelina Amata and two others of graft, malversation of public funds, and three counts of malversation of public funds.
The decision comes after they were proven to have committed falsification of official documents in connection with former Senator Gregorio Honasan II’s 2009 Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).
In a 118-page decision, the anti-graft court’s Special Third Division found Amata, businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles, and Honasan’s former political affairs chief, Michael Benjamin, guilty of the charges over the alleged misuse of the senator’s PDAF intended for livelihood projects in San Agustin, Surigao del Sur.
According to the anti-graft court, the three are jointly and severally liable to pay the government P29.1 million, with interest at six percent per annum from the date of the decision’s finality until full payment.
Moreover, Amata, Benjamin and Napoles ‘shall suffer perpetual disqualification from holding any public office’ and were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 6 years and 1 month to 17 years and 4 months.
In August 2017, the Office of the Ombudsman filed two counts of graft against Honasan before the Sandiganbayan, alleging that his P30-million PDAF for Muslim Filipinos was implemented without proper procurement procedures.
However, in January 2021, the Sandiganbayan’s Second Division dismissed the graft cases against Honasan after granting the demurrer to evidence he filed, along with Michael Benjamin, Mehol Kiram Sadain, Fedelina Aldanese, Olga Sajise-Galido, Giovanni Manuel Gaerlan, Galay Makalinggan and Aurora Aragon-Mabang.
The court had ruled that ‘the evidence of the prosecution failed to sufficiently establish the essential elements of the crime charged, and to overcome the presumption of innocence in favor of the accused.’