PDAF scam: Ex-DOTC officials get 6 years for bogus cellphone procurement in 2005

FIVE former officials of the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC now DOTr) and a private businessman were convicted of graft by the Sandiganbayan over the anomalous procurement of mobile phones for P5.96 million in 2005.

In a 172-page decision issued June 7, 2024, the anti-graft court’s Third Division found former DOTC directors Elmer Soneja, Venancio Santidad, Ildefonso Patdu Jr., and Rebecca Cacatian; DOTC Legal Officer Geronimo Quintos; and businessman Domingo Samuel Jonathan Ng guilty of one count of violation of Section 3 (e) of RA 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

The DOTC officials were members of the agency’s Bids and Awards Committee that approved the purchase despite red flags of irregularities.

Together with Ng, they were all sentenced to six to 10 years imprisonment with perpetual disqualification for holding public office.

Their co-defendants, Marcelo Desiderio Jr. and Antonio Cruz, were acquitted due to insufficiency of evidence to prove their guilt.

The court likewise acquitted all the defendants in a separate charge of malversation of public funds on the ground that the evidence presented by the prosecution fell short of the required proof beyond reasonable doubt.

Presiding Justice Amparo M. Cabotaje-Tang penned the ruling, with Associate Justices Bernelito R. Fernandez and Ronald B. Moreno concurring.

Former Iloilo Rep. Judy Syjuco, who was also a co-accused in both cases, had earlier entered into a plea bargain deal with the Office of the Ombudsman where she was allowed to plead guilty to lesser offenses of Frauds Against Public Treasury and Failure of Accountable Officer to Render Accounts.

The former lawmaker, widow of the late TESDA Secretary August Syjuco, did not serve time behind bars after paying P5,964,859.09 to the court on September 8, 2022, representing the full contract cost for the acquisition of mobile phone units.

Private defendant Ng also tried to secure a similar deal but was turned down by both the court and the prosecution.

The case, filed in 2016, involved allegations of fraudulent disbursement of Rep. Syjuco’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or congressional pork barrel