Pork scam: Evidence vs ex-Mindoro lawmaker sufficient

The Sandiganbayan has ruled to continue with the trial of the graft and malversation cases filed against former Oriental Mindoro congressman Rodolfo Valencia over the alleged misuse of his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel in 2008 and 2009 amounting to P6.51 million.

In a six-page resolution dated March 8, the anti-graft court’s seventh division denied Valencia’s motion for leave to file a demurrer to evidence.

A demurrer would have allowed Valencia to seek the dismissal of the cases without presenting his defense but solely on the ground of the supposed weakness of evidence of the prosecution.

The court said the prosecution team of the Office of the Ombudsman was able to present sufficient evidence to sustain the charges.

Filed by the ombudsman in 2016, the cases stemmed from the allocation of Valencia’s PDAF to the Masaganang Ani Para sa Magsasaka Foundation Inc. (MAMFI), which was among the bogus non-government organizations allegedly set up by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, the accused brains of the pork barrel scam.

The ombudsman said Valencia unilaterally chose MAMFI to implement his supposed livelihood projects for the first district of Oriental Mindoro in exchange for kickbacks from Napoles.

It said the selection of MAMFI to carry out the projects without public bidding was in violation of the Government Procurement Reform Act.

Graft probers said the projects turned out to be non-existent or were never implemented.

The court said Valencia’s claim that his signature was forged is a matter of defense which the court “cannot take as gospel truth at this stage of the proceedings” unless he presents sufficient evidence to prove it. –