Ex-TRC exec gets 27 years for graft

MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan has sentenced businessman Dennis Cunanan, a former deputy director-general of the defunct state firm Technology Resource Center (TRC), to up to 27 years in prison for involvement in the misuse of P22.5 million in Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel of former senator Gregorio Honasan in 2007 and 2008.

In a 97-page decision promulgated on Aug. 15, the anti-graft court’s Third Division found Cunanan guilty of one count each of violation of Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and malversation of public funds under Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC).

Convicted with Cunanan for the same offenses were private respondents Petronila Balmaceda and Leoncio Balisi of the non-government organization Pangkabuhayan Foundation Inc. (PFI).

For the graft offense, Cunanan, Balmaceda and Balisi were sentenced to six years and one month up to 10 years of imprisonment. The court also ordered the perpetual disqualification of Cunanan from holding public office and the forfeiture of all his retirement and gratuity benefits.

For the malversation offense, Cunanan, Balmaceda and Balisi were sentenced to 12 years to up to 17 years and four months imprisonment. They were also ordered to jointly pay a fine of P20 million. The court said this was on top of another P20 million that they must pay as civil liability.

Meanwhile, former TRC group manager Maria Rosalinda Lacsamana was found guilty, together with Balmaceda and Balisi, of separate set of violation of Section 3 (e) of RA 3019 and malversation of public funds under Article 217 of the RPC.

For the graft offense, they were sentenced to six years and one month to up to 10 years imprisonment, with the accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification from holding public office. 

For malversation, Lacsamana, Balmaceda and Balisi were sentenced to 10 years to up to 14 years and eight months of imprisonment. They were also ordered to jointly pay P2.5 million as civil liability.

The cases, meanwhile, against former TRC director general Antonio Ortiz were ordered temporarily archived as he remains at large, without prejudice to the case’s revival upon his arrest or voluntary surrender.

Filed by the Office of the Ombudsman in 2019, the cases stemmed from the TRC’s release in two instances of the amount of P20 million and P2.5 million to PFI, drawn from the PDAF of then senator Honasan in 2007 and 2008, respectively.

The ombudsman said the funds were released to PFI for supposed implementation of Honasan’s livelihood and financial projects for the widows and orphans of deceased soldiers and police officers in the provinces of Isabela and Cagayan.

The ombudsman said its investigation revealed that the projects were never implemented, and that the PFI submitted spurious documents such as a list of beneficiaries and project implementation reports to support its supposed liquidation of the funds.

Honasan, however, was not included in the cases as the ombudsman earlier ruled that there was no probable cause to establish his participation in the anomalies.

In convicting Cunanan, Lacsamana and the two officials of PFI, the Third Division said the prosecution was able to sufficiently establish their conspiracy to defraud the government.

The court said sufficient testimonial and documentary evidence were also presented showing that the projects were never implemented.

“Additionally, of note is the observation of the COA (Commission on Audit) that the attendance sheets of the purported participants from the various cities and municipalities of the provinces of Isabela and Cagayan do not show that they actually received any financial assistance or even indicate their specific addresses,” the Third Division said.

“Likewise, the physical existence of PFI is questionable. As per the SAO (Special Audit Observation) Audit Report No. 2012-03 dated Aug. 14, 2013, the two addresses declared by PFI is a dilapidated apartment previously occupied by its NGO president and a residential unit whose occupant was unaware of the existence of the PFI,” it added. “Without any evidence in refutation, these liquidation reports were indeed falsified.” 

Cunanan’s name recently reappeared in the headlines as co-accused of dismissed mayor Alice Guo of Bamban, Tarlac in charges of qualified human trafficking filed by the Department of Justice.