Sandigan chief believes Gigi Reyes guilty of direct bribery in 'pork' scam case

Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang believes Jessica “Gigi” Reyes, former chief of staff of Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile, is guilty of five counts of direct bribery in connection with the P172-million pork barrel scam.

In a separate 255-page concurring and dissenting opinion, Cabotaje-Tang said state witness Benhur Luy’s five Daily Disbursement Reports (DDRs) prove that Reyes, through prosecution witness Ruby Tuason, received P46.38 million from businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles, a co-accused in the case.

The DDRs were dated dated April 2007, December 2007 (two DDRs), January 2008 and September 2008. Luy is the former finance officer of Napoles' JLN Corporation, and the DDRs were ledgers where he kept records of the beneficiaries of the alleged scheme.

Reyes and Napoles, as well as Enrile, were acquitted by the Sandiganbayan in the plunder case in connection with the alleged scam.

"As established by the testimony of Ruby Tuason, she and accused Reyes met several times from 2006 to 2009. Tuason also explicitly declared that she personally delivered the money that she received from Luy in accused Napoles' office to accused Reyes. The money was given to accused Reyes, with Tuason serving as the intermediary, in connection with her participation in the scheme of accused Napoles to funnel the money which were earmarked for PDAF projects to her bogus non government organizations (NGOs),” Cabotaje-Tang said.

PDAF refers to Priority Development Assistance Fund, the formal name of pork barrel.

"Specifically, as Chief of Staff of accused Enrile, accused Reyes herself liaised with Tuason and agreed to the proposal of accused Napoles, through Tuason, to endorse accused Napoles' bogus NGOs as implementors of the projects funded by accused Enrile's PDAF. It was also accused Reyes who informed accused Napoles, through Tuason, in 2004 that there was a budget of around P30 to 31 million which they could give to accused Napoles," Cabotaje-Tang said.

The Sandiganbayan chief also said that Luy and Tuason’s testimonies proved that Reyes signed letters which:

• designated the implementing agencies (IAs) and Napoles-owned NGOs that will serve as beneficiaries of projects funded by Enrile’s PDAF and
• authorized her deputy chief-of-Staff, Jose Antonio Evangelista, to sign for and follow up on the project to ensure its proper and timely implementation

 
Pursuant to these authorizations, Cabotaje-Tang said Evangelista also designated Napoles' NGOs, signed the memorandum of agreements with the IAs and the NGOs, and noted the project work plans and liquidation documents submitted by the NGOs in relation to their "implementation" of the projects funded by Enrile’s PDAF.

"Under these premises, the evidence of the prosecution sufficiently established all of the elements of the crime of direct bribery. Verily, I submit that accused Reyes should be held liable for five counts of direct bribery," Cabotaje-Tang said.

As a result, Cabotaje-Tang also said that since Reyes is guilty of bribery, Napoles is guilty of the concomitant crime of corruption of a public official.

"Since the commission of the crime of Direct Bribery has been established in the preceding paragraphs, accused Napoles' criminal liability for Corruption of Public Officials under Article 212 has also been established," she said. 

Cabotaje-Tang noted that Article 212 states that the same penalties imposed upon the officer corrupted, except those of disqualification and suspension, "shall be imposed upon any person who shall have made the offers or promises or given the gifts or presents as described in the preceding articles."

Cabotaje-Tang said Reyes should serve eight to nine years in jail time for each count of direct bribery. She also said Reyes should indemnify the government in the amount of P365 million with 6% interest per year reckoned from the finality of the decision until full payment

She also said Napoles should be found guilty of five counts of corruption of public officials, pay a P139 million in fine, indemnify the government the amount of P365 million with 6% interest per year reckoned from the finality of the decision until full payment and suffer the penalty of special temporary disqualification.

She further said Napoles, for corruption of public officials, should spend eight to 10 years jail time for each count of her crime and pay the government P365 million with 6% interest per year reckoned from the finality of the decision until full payment.

Reyes was present during Friday's promulgation of the case but did not grant reporters interview. 

Napoles, meanwhile, welcomed her acquittal although she will remain incarcerated due to previous convictions in other cases related to the pork barrel scam. —KBK, GMA Integrated News