PORK BARREL CASE | SC affirms Ombudsman’s probable cause finding vs. Napoles, 4 others

December 19, 2023 , 09:47 PM

By Clarist Zablan

(December 19, 2023) – The Supreme Court (SC) has affirmed the findings of probable cause in the graft and malversation cases against the “pork barrel queen” and four budget department officers, the high court’s public information office said on Tuesday.

The SC 2nd Division denied the consolidated petitions for certiorari filed by Janet Lim Napoles and four others, who faced charges of graft, malversation, and corruption in connection to the alleged misuse of the P16-million Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) under the late former Davao del Sur congressman Douglas Cagas in 2007.

A 36-page decision, penned by division chair Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, was promulgated on December 7, 2022, but was released only to the public on Tuesday.

Last 2016, the Office of the Ombudsman charged Cagas, Napoles, and several science and budget officers and officials for allegedly funneling millions of pesos in PDAF to non-government organizations run by Napoles, intended for what turned out to be ghost projects.

Cagas was also accused of receiving P9.3 million in kickbacks concerning the issue. He died of COVID-19 two years ago.

Napoles said the Ombudsman had gravely abused its discretion in accepting the testimonies against her, and the complaints did “not satisfy the requirement of clear and convincing evidence required to establish the presence of conspiracy.”

For their part, the four budget officials – Mario Relampagos, Rosario Nuñez, Lalaine Paule, and Marilou Bare – insisted that they had no hand in the scheme.

The SC found the petition moot after the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan found probable cause to charge Napoles and the four officials.

Moreover, the high court did not find “grave abuse of discretion” on the part of the Ombudsman, noting that there was “nothing arbitrary” in finding probable cause against the petitioners and the office’s findings were “supported by substantial evidence.”

“Thus, we see no grave abuse of discretion that will allow us to interfere with the Ombudsman’s finding of probable cause,” the ruling read. “All the elements of the offense charged, together with the existence of conspiracy, have likewise been reasonably established.”

First exposed in 2013, the so-called “pork barrel scam” involved the alleged misuse by several lawmakers of their PDAF by diverting these funds into ghost projects, defrauding the government with an estimated P10 billion.

Later in the same year, the SC declared the discretionary fund in Congress as unconstitutional.

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