Sandiganbayan orders ex-ERC chief tried over ‘pork’ scam

The Sandiganbayan has found sufficient grounds to proceed with the trial for graft and malversation cases filed against former Davao del Sur representative Marc Douglas Cagas IV, former Energy Regulatory Commission ( ERC) chair Zenaida Ducut and 23 others over their alleged involvement in the pork barrel scam.

In a 28- page resolution dated Dec. 2 and released to the media yesterday, the Sandiganbayan Special Third Division denied the respective motions to quash with prayer for the dismissal of the cases filed by Cagas, Ducut and the other defendants “for lack of merit.”

“In this case the court finds that there is substantial basis to support the finding of probable cause for the purpose of issuing a warrant of arrest against the accused and to hold them for trial,” read the ruling penned by Division chairman and Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang.

Associate Justices Samuel Martires and Sarah Jane Fernandez concurred with the ruling.

But since Cagas, Ducut and the other respondents have already posted their respective bail bonds, the court recalled the arrest warrants.

In its ruling, the court dismissed Cagas’ claim that there is no evidence of conspiracy among the respondents and that he received kickbacks from the alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet LimNapoles.

“The allegation in the information that accused ‘conspiring with one another and with private individual’ is sufficient. In fact, the ‘case’ information enumerates in detail the individual participation of the accused,” the resolution read.

The court said that the ombudsman, in its resolution ordering the filing of the cases, mentioned that state witness Benhur Luy in his testimony said that Cagas received kickbacks totalling P5.540 million by allocating his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel from 2007 to 2009 to the fake foundations supposedly owned by Napoles.

Filed by the ombudsman before the Sandiganbayan in April 2016, the cases against Cagas, Ducut and the other respondents involved two counts of violation of Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti- Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and another two counts of malversation of public funds as defined under Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC).

Based on the information of the cases, Cagas allocated a total of P7.550 million of his PDAF to the Napoles-linked foundations Progress and Development Foundation Inc. (POPDFI) and Social Development Program for Farmers Foundation Inc. (SDPFFI) in exchange for kickbacks.

The ombudsman alleged that it was Cagas who personally chose Napoles-linked foundations POPDFI and SDPFFI to implement his PDAFfunded projects without the benefit of a public bidding required under Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Act.

The ombudsman said the supposed agricultural projects were never implemented.