Sandiganbayan: Graft conviction of 5 DOTC execs, trader stays

THE Sandiganbayan has affirmed its June 4, 2024 decision convicting five former officials of the defunct Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and a businessman of graft in connection to a fraudulent procurement of mobile phones worth P5.96 million in 2005.

In its resolution issued on September 5, 2024, the anti-graft court’s Third Division denied separate motions for reconsideration filed by former DOTC Directors Elmer Soneja, Ildefonso Patdu Jr., and Rebecca Cacatian; DOTC Legal Officer Geronimo Quintos, and businessman Domingo Samuel Jonathan Ng.

Venancio Santidad, also a former DOTC director and co-defendant, did not join the challenges to the court decision.

All five DOTC officials were members of the Bids and Awards Committee of the DOTC.

“In sum, the Court finds no new and/or substantial arguments raised by the accused-movants in their partial motions for reconsideration that would warrant a reconsideration of the court’s decision,” the Sandiganbayan said.

Presiding Justice Amparo M. Cabotaje-Tang penned the 25-page ruling in which Associate Justices Bernelito R. Fernandez and Ronald B. Moreno concurred.

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 the mobile phone units.

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) allocations.

State auditors Elinore Lavilla, Abdel Reza Sadala, and Ma. Sandra Pormilos, in reviewing the transaction, found that the purchase of 1,582 units of Nokia 1100 phones violated procurement rules and regulations since the chosen supplier, West Island Beverages