Former Iloilo solon hurdles graft charges
Tupas and his co-respondent were accused of acting with manifest partially and evident bad faith by giving unwarranted benefits and advantages to the KKAMFI
Daily TribuneTupas and his co-respondent were accused of acting with manifest partially and evident bad faith by giving unwarranted benefits and advantages to the KKAMFI
The Sandiganbayan announced on Friday that it has cleared former Iloilo lawmaker Niel Tupas Jr. of graft and malversation raps over the alleged anomalous utilization of his P4.8-million pork barrel funds to a non-government organization in 2008.
In a 99-page ruling dated 13 September but was released only on Friday, the anti-graft court's Special Fourth Division found Tupas not guilty of breaching Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA 3019) and Malversation through Falsification of Public Documents.
His co-accused, Rhodora Mendoza and Romulo Relevo, ex-administrative and finance head, and ex-general services unit head respectively, of the now-defunct National Agri-Business Corporation or NABCOR, were also acquitted of the same charges for failure of the prosecution to prove their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Filed by the Ombudsman in 2018, the case stemmed from the supposed misuse of Tupas' Priority Development Assistance Fund worth P4,850,000 in 2008, supposedly intended to fund agricultural livelihood programs for Iloilo farmers.
The funds were supposed to buy hand tractors, water pumps and grafted fruit seedlings, according to the Ombudsman.
Tupas was accused of funneling his pork barrel to dubious NGO Kabuhayan at Kalusugan Alay Para sa Masa Foundation Inc. by utilizing the NABCOR as an intermediary.
According to the Ombudsman, Tupas "unilaterally chose" and "indorsed" KKAMFI as a project partner to implement his livelihood projects for his district, notwithstanding that the foundation was "unaccredited" and "unqualified" to undertake such.
Tupas and his co-respondents were accused of acting with manifest partially and evident bad faith by giving unwarranted benefits and advantages to the KKAMFI.
The probe revealed that NABCOR and KKMFI entered into a memorandum of agreement on the purported implementation of Tupas' PDAF-funded projects. NABCOR's Mendoza and Relevo facilitated the disbursement of P4,850,000 to the foundation.
