Arroyo cleared in Malampaya mess; Napoles, 24 others face raps

MANILA, Philippines —The Office of the Ombudsman on Tuesday absolved former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in connection with the P900-million Malampaya fund scam.

The Ombudsman said it is dismissing the charges against Arroyo and three officials from the Department of Agrarian Reform — Eduardo Ermit; Dominador Sison Jr. and Nilda Baui — due to insufficient evidence.

The office, in a 134-page joint resolution, said that “complainants failed to prove that they conspired with their co-respondents in the illegal diversion of the P900-million Malampaya fund or that they deviated from the regular procedure.”

One of the former president's legal counsels, Laurence Arroyo (no relation), in a statement welcomed the ombudsman’s resolution.

"It's the perfect way to end the year and to start the new one. We hope that we have seen the last of these frivolous complaints against the former president," the lawyer said. Former President Arroyo is now representative of the 2nd District of Pampanga.

Meanwhile, the Ombudsman indicted alleged “pork barrel mastermind” Janel Lim-Napoles, and 24 others for their supposed participation in the scam.

25 individuals ordered charged w/ plunder, graft & malversation over the 2009 Malampaya fund scam pic.twitter.com/RuvcT4L2IO

— Elizabeth T. Marcelo (@marcelo_beth) December 27, 2016

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales said the respondents were found to have acted in concert to divert the fund releases drawn from the P900-million Malampaya fund allocated by the Department of Budget Management to the DAR in 2009, which was diverted and coursed through NGOs controlled by Napoles and for which huge kickbacks and commissions were paid.

The Ombudsman ordered the of filing two counts of plunder, 97 counts of violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act as well as 97 counts of Malversation Through Falsification of Public Documents against 25 respondents from the DBM, DAR and NGO representatives.

Among the officials to be charged are Former Budget Secretary Rolando Aureo Andaya, Jr., and  former DBM Undersecretary Mario Relampagos; former Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman, former Undersecretary Narciso Nieto and Director Teresita Panlilio; former Candaba Mayor Rene Maglanque.

Other NGO representatives indicted were Ruby Tuason, Janet Lim Napoles, Jo Christine Napoles, James Christopher Napoles, Reynald Lim, Evelyn De Leon, Ronald Francisco Lim, Ronald John Lim, Eulogio Rodriguez, Simplicio Gumafelix, John Raymund De Asis, Rodrigo Galay, Alejandro Garro, Paquito Dinso, Jr., Gerald Apuang, Napoleon Sibayan, Winnie Villanueva, Angelita Cacananta, and Ronald Venancio.

Based on the Ombudsman’s probe, records found revealed that Andaya submitted a request for authority to the Office of the President, to use the Malampaya fund for relief operations, rehabilitation, and reconstruction of areas affected by typhoons “Ondoy” and “Pepeng” on Oct. 8, 2009.

An Executive Order 848 authorizing the budget department to release the funds to DAR as implementing agency was released by five days later. Subsequently, Nieto requested Andaya to release the P900 million to provide assistance to farmer-beneficiaries affected by the typhoons.

The request for fund release was based on 97 purporetd letter-requests made by the mayors of various local government units.

However, it was learned that Napoles instructed Galay to scan the letterheads of the 97 local government units and the NGO representatives accused falsified the letters and made it appear the mayors were requesting financial assistance, the Office of the Ombudsman said.

The DAR officials issued 97 checks payable to 12 organizations while these NGO representatives allegedly issued official receipts and fake liquidation documents for the allegedly spurious transactions.