Ex-agri chief charged anew over 'pork' scam

MANILA, Philippines — Former Department of Agriculture secretary and incumbent Bohol Third District Rep. Arthur Yap is facing another set of criminal charges before the Sandiganbayan in connection with his alleged involvement in the multibillion-peso the pork barrel fund scam.

Filed by the Office of the Ombudsman on August 22, the charges involve two counts of violation of Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and another two counts of malversation of public funds under Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code.

Yap was named as co-accused of former Nueva Ecija Fourth District Representatives Rodolfo Antonino over the alleged misuse of the latter's Priority Development Assistance Fund or pork barrel amounting P14.55 million in 2007.

Also named as respondents in the cases were former officials of the now defunct state firm Natioal Agribusiness Corporation (NABCOR) namely; president Alan Javellana, vice president for administration and finance Rhodora Mendoza, human resource manager Encarnita Cristina Munsod and accountant Maria Guañizo.

Private individuals Marilou Antonio of the non-government organization Buhay Mo Mahal Ko Foundation Inc. (BMMKFI) and Carmelita Barredo of the C.C. Barredo Enterprises were also named as respondents in the cases

The ombudsman said Yap, as then Agriculture secretary should be held liable for entering into a memorandum of agreement with NABCOR for the implementation of Antonino's livelihood project in his district.

The NABCOR, in turn, entered into a MOA with BMMKFI, the NGO allegedly “unilaterally chosen and endorsed” by Antonino as partner for his project's implementation.

Ombudsman's graft investigation and prosecution officer Christian Uy said BMMKFI was chosen by Antonino without the benefit of a public bidding required under Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act and despite the NGO's lack of qualification and accreditation to carry out the project.

The ombudsman said the respondents instead made it appear that 7,275 sets of livelihood technology kits (LTKs) were procured by BMMKFI from C.C. Barredo Enterprises for the project's supposed implementation.

The ombudsman said field investigation revealed that the project was never implemented. Instead, Antonino, Antonio and Barredo allegedly submitted to NABCOR fictitious supporting documents such as disbursement and liquidation report, certificate of acceptance, purchase order, list of project beneficiaries, official receipts, delivery receipts and sales invoices “to conceal the fictitious nature of the transactions.”

“The above acts of the accused public officials allowed Antonio and Barredo, through BMMKFI, to take possession of and thus misappropriate said PDAF-drawn public funds, instead of implementing the PDAF-funded project, which turned out to be non-existent, to the damage and prejudice of the Republic of the Philippines,” the ombudsman said in the case information sheet.

The ombudsman recommended to the Sandiganbayan to set the respondents' bail bond at P140,000 each.

Just on Tuesday, Yap posted P300,000 bail bond for his first batch of cases in connection with the pork barrel scam.

Pending before the court's Third Division, the first batch of cases against Yap involve two counts of graft, one count of malversation of public funds and one count of the complex crime of malversation of public through falsification of public documents .

The cases stemmed from the alleged misuse of the PDAF of former Misamis Occidental First District Rep. Marina Clarete from 2007 to 2009 amounting P62.63 million. Clarete has yet to post bail for her cases.