Sandiganbayan finds Roderick Paulate guilty of graft, falsification over 'ghost employees'

The Sandiganbayan has found actor Roderick Paulate guilty of graft and falsification charges and sentenced him to at least 10 years minimum jail time in connection with the hiring of fictitious job contractors in 2010 during his stint as Quezon City councilor.

In a 130-page decision dated November 25, the court said Paulate recommended the hiring of 30 individuals under job contracts who received wages from July to December 2010 even if their Personal Data Records were riddled with irregularities.

According to the Sandiganbayan, the government prosecutors were able to prove the following:

• job order employees have no records of birth;
• none of the job order employees have requested for a National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) clearance;
• the job order employees could not be located at their given residences;
• the job order employees were not registered voters of their respective barangays; and
• the job order employees have no record in the schools where they allegedly attended

“Given the above findings and in addition to the other pieces of evidence presented, the prosecution has well established that the entries in the Personal Data Sheet (PDS) of the job contractors were indeed falsified,” the anti-graft court said.

“The defense did not give any logical explanation for the glaring inaccuracies of the entries in the PDS or adduce any evidence to show the truth thereof,” it added.

Paulate and his co-accused, then-driver/liaison officer Vicente Bajamunde, were sentenced to six to eight years jail time and perpetually disqualified from public office for their graft conviction.

In addition, Paulate and Bajamunde were ordered by the court to jointly and severally pay the government P1.109 million, with an interest of 6% per year, until fully paid.

Paulate was also sentenced to six months to six years in jail and pay a fine of P10,000 for each of the eight counts of falsification of public documents. Bajamunde was acquitted in these same eight cases for the failure of the prosecution to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

The court also sentenced Paulate with six months to six years in jail time and a fine of P10,000 for his conviction on the falsification by a public officer charge.

Paulate, during the course of the hearing, argued, among others, that certifications from schools and barangays only prove that a person is not a student or a resident, but they do not conclusively prove that the job contractors are fictitious.

But the Sandiganbayan said this “does not amount to a convincing defense that deserves credence from this court.”

“It is to be emphasized that the prosecution has consistently showed that the entries in the educational background in the PDS of the job contractors were false because they either do not have records in the schools which they claimed to have attended, or the schools they indicated were not yet established at the time they claimed to have been enrolled or graduated,” the anti-graft court said.

“These are not just mere inaccuracies in the PDS entries that could be considered as innocuous but are indicative of an intent to introduce fictitious information. The defense even listed the job contractors as their witnesses during the pre-trial. However, as bolstered by the records, none of the job contractors were presented to testify and prove their existence,” the anti-graft court added.

The Sandiganbayan also said the testimonies of defense witnesses were merely denials that the job order workers are fictitious and are unsubstantiated by any positive evidence as to their existence.

“It is well settled that testimonial evidence is easy to fabricate. Thus, in the weighing of evidence, documentary  evidence prevails over testimonial evidence. Accused Paulate and all defense witnesses are consistent in their statements that they are not familiar with or have not met the job contractors and yet, they did not verify their existence during the submission of the PDS and until these cases have been filed,” the Sandiganbayan said.

“Only one thing comes to our mind: they know that there is nothing to verify because the job contractors do not exist. Further, assuming that there was an effort to locate  the job contractors, the fact that not even one of  them could be located only strengthens the prosecution’s claim that the PDS were fabricated and that these  job contractors are indeed fictitious," the Sandiganbayan added. —KBK/RSJ, GMA Integrated News