Pork scam: Ex-Iloilo lawmaker’s conviction upheld

MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan has affirmed the conviction of former Iloilo second district representative Judy Syjuco over the misuse of her Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) worth P20 million in 2006.

In a resolution promulgated on Feb. 3, which was released yesterday, the anti-graft court’s second division said Syjuco and her co-accused former Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) director- general for field operations Santiago Yabut Jr. failed to raise new arguments in their respective motions for reconsideration to warrant the reversal of its earlier decision.

Syjuco, Yabut and Maria Nela Yniesta, president of Tagipusuon Foundation Inc., were found guilty of two counts of graft.

They were sentenced to six to eight years in prison for each offense, perpetually disqualified from holding public office and ordered to pay P6.985 million in civil liability to the government.

The court had earlier dismissed the cases filed against Syjuco’s husband former TESDA director general Augusto Syjuco Jr. due to his death in January 2020.

In filing the case, the Office of the Ombudsman said the former lawmaker coursed her PDAF through TESDA, which was  chaired by her husband at the time.

The anti-graft agency said Tagipusuon Foundation Inc., the non-government organization chosen to implement the congresswoman’s scholarship project, was founded and owned by her husband.