Ex-Nabcor officials found guilty in PDAF scam case

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 7) — The Sandiganbayan found two former officials of the abolished National Agribusiness Corporation (Nabcor) guilty of graft and malversation of public funds over the misuse of lawmakers' Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), or pork barrel, in 2008.

The anti-graft court's 1st division sentenced ex-Nabcor finance division director Rhodora Mendoza and general services unit head Romulo Relevo up to 35 years imprisonment.

Mendoza and Relevo were accused of approving the illegal transfer of ₱4.85 million in pork barrel to a bogus non-government organization.

«There is sufficient proof that the said amount has been misappropriated,» the court said in its decision signed on Monday.

Respondent Elizabeth Balbacal, a certified public accountant, was acquitted after prosecutors failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that she participated in the fraud.

The three were charged as co-accused of former Nabcor president Alan Javellana over misuse of former congressman Vicente Belmonte Jr.'s PDAF, which was diverted to the Kasangga sa Magandang Bukas Foundation, Inc.

By way of civil liability, the court ordered Medoza, Relevo, and Balbacal to pay the government ₱4.85 million, the amount illegally disbursed.

In September 2022, the Sandiganbayan also convicted Relevo, another former Nabcor official, and a private individual of graft and malversation of public funds over the PDAF scam.

READ: Sandiganbayan convicts ex-Nabcor officials over PDAF case

In 2014, then President Benigno Aquino III ordered the abolition of Nabcor and other agencies linked to the pork barrel scandal.