Napoles ordered to pay gov’t additional P79 million over corruption, bribery convictions

The Sandiganbayan has ordered Janet Lim Napoles to pay the government an additional P79.04 million in connection with her October 2023 conviction on nine counts of corruption of public officials and nine counts of direct bribery involving the misuse of the pork barrel or discretionary fund of former APEC party-list lawmaker Edgar Valdez.

The anti-graft court, in a 28-page Resolution dated July 8, said the P79.04 million comprise the public funds that went to the coffers of the three nongovernment organizations under the control of Napoles which “constituted the actual damages suffered by the government resulting from this unlawful scheme.”

“While the prosecution did not raise the issue of the lack of imposition of a civil liability, an examination of the Court decision shows that the imposition of civil liability was inadvertently not included despite having been warranted by the established facts and evidence in this case,” the Sandiganbayan said.

“It is a fundamental rule that the acquittal of the accused does not automatically preclude a judgment against him on the civil aspect of the case. In this case, the prosecution was able to sufficiently prove, through preponderance of evidence, that the proceeds of the different Special Allotment Release Orders (SAROs) involved in this case were transferred to the several NGOs (under the control of Napoles, particularly MAMFI, PSDFI, and SDPFFI, as recipients of the public funds, and that the PDAF projects which these NGOs had supposedly implemented were ghost or fictitious projects,” the anti-graft court added.

The anti-graft court said that while Napoles and Valdez were cleared in the P57-million plunder case, the civil liability is distinct because it constitutes the actual damages suffered by the government resulting from the unlawful scheme.

Likewise, the Sandiganbayan said that the extinction of the penal action for plunder in this case is not tantamount to the extinction of the civil liability under the following circumstance:

• the acquittal is based on reasonable doubt as only preponderance of evidence is required;
• the court declares that the liability of the accused is only civil; and
• the civil liability of the accused does not arise from or is not based upon the crime of which the accused is acquitted.

“No such controverting evidence relating to the transfer of the public funds to the involved NGOs and to the fact that the PDAF projects in question were ghost or fictitious projects were presented by accused Napoles, as she opted not to present any evidence during the trial. Thus, by way of civil liability, accused Napoles should pay to the Government the total amount of P79.04 million plus interest of 6% per annum reckoned from the finality of this decision until full payment,” the Sandiganbayan added.

As a result of her conviction on nine counts of corruption of public officials and nine counts of bribery, the anti-graft court has initially meted Napoles a jail time of two to six years for each count of conviction or a minimum of 18 years in prison, on top of a fine worth P26,996,700.

Valdez, on the other hand, was also convicted on the same number of criminal offenses and was initially sentenced to a jail time of two to six years for each conviction of direct bribery or a minimum of 18 years, also on top of a fine worth P26,996,700 and a penalty of special temporary disqualification.

This P26.9-million fine for both Napoles and Valdez however, was reduced to P23.99 million in the July 2024 Resolution. — BM, GMA Integrated News