A president of a non-governmental organization owned by Janet Lim Napoles has been sentenced to up to 28 years in prison by the Sandiganbayan after being found culpable in the alleged anomalies involving P4.8 million in pork barrel allocations from former La Union Rep. Manuel Ortega in 2007.

The anti-graft Fifth Division handed down the ruling on 29 April, finding Mylene Encarnacion, president of the Countrywide Agri and Rural Economic Development Foundation Inc. (Caredfi), guilty on one count each of graft and malversation, with a jail term of up to 10 years and up to 18 years, respectively.

Aside from a fine of P5 million, the court also ordered her to pay the government another P5 million in civil liability.

Encarnacion was charged with corruption alongside former Technology and Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC) director general Antonio Ortiz, who remains at large, over the alleged unlawful transfer of Ortega’s P5 million in Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) to Caredfi.

The filing of charges stemmed from a special audit report by the Commission on Audit, which disallowed the release of P5 million to Caredfi, as it was not compliant with pertinent laws and regulations, and hence was considered illegal and irregular.

However, despite due notice from state auditors, the concerned officials failed to account for the funds in question, prompting the Ombudsman to file charges of graft and malversation, but only against Ortiz and Encarnacion. It was unclear, however, why Ortega was not charged.

Records showed that Ortega personally endorsed Caredfi—a private institution controlled by alleged pork barrel mastermind Napoles—to take over in carrying out his PDAF-funded livelihood projects, instead of TLRC, the designated implementing agency.

As a result, TLRC subsequently transferred P4.8 million to Caredfi, retaining P150,000 as a service fee and P50,000 for livelihood materials.

The prosecution, however, alleged that the transfer of the pork barrel funds to Caredfi was illegal because the NGO had no technical and financial capacity to undertake the projects.

The Sandiganbayan pointed out that Caredfi had a financial capacity of only ₱1 million, yet it was entrusted with a project worth four times that amount, rendering it unqualified to implement the PDAF-funded initiatives.

Encarnacion denied that she was no longer the president of the NGO at the time of the commission of the offense, citing relevant documents, including bank transactions, to prove her claim.

But the court countered that the submitted documents showed that Simonette Briones, whom Encarnacion pointed to as the head of the NGO at the time, only assumed the post in 2009.

The court also took note of the testimonies of state witness Benhur Luy—Napoles’ then financial officer-turned-whistleblower—who unequivocally identified Encarnacion as president of Caredfi.

“In summary, accused Encarnacion's receipt of funds for CAREDFI albeit unqualified and without submitting any proof of fund liquidation, combined with the fact that the project was not implemented, proves that she conspired to achieve the common goal to malverse public funds,” the 56-page decision reads.