THE Sandiganbayan has dismissed multiple charges of graft and malversation of public funds filed five years ago by the Office of the Ombudsman against former Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor) vice president for finance and treasury Estela Pelayo Ramos.
Presiding Justice Amparo M. Cabotaje-Tang, Third Division chairperson, penned the 132-page resolution that threw out the government case by reason of insufficiency of evidence to support the alleged crimes. Associate Justices Bernelito R. Fernandez and Ronald B. Moreno concurred.
The anti-graft court’s Third Division held that the prosecution presented insufficient evidence to sustain a conviction against Ramos.
“The Court is constrained to grant the accused’s demurrer to evidence for lack of sufficient evidence to warrant her conviction of the crimes charged against her,” the Sandiganbayan declared.
Based on the indictments issued in 2017, Ramos was accused of giving unwarranted benefits and preference to private firm BIDA Productions Inc. by signing check vouchers in its favor on six separate transactions between October 2005 and October 2009 in the total amount of P120.24 million.
Ombudsman investigators traced check vouchers through various activities related to BIDA Productions.
There was a check voucher P6.5 million issued in October 2005 for “Maligayang Barangay Maagang Pasko 2005”; P7.65 million in October 2006 for “Pinakamaligayang Barangay 2006”; P2.407 million in March 2008 for BIDA Comics; P12.25 million in June 2008 for the BIDA Caravan; P21.241 million in February 2009 for the Grand BIDA March; and P70.19 million in March 2009 for the Anti-Illegal Drugs Advocacy/Pagcor’s Social Responsibility Project.
During trial, however, the court noted that the evidence showed the fund releases were triggered by various memoranda from Pagcor Corporate Communications and Services Department head Edward King to then Pagcor chairman and chief executive officer Efraim Genuino.
“In these memoranda, King requested for budget approval of various BIDA projects. The requests were invariably approved by the Pagcor Board of Directors,” the Sandiganbayan noted.
While the prosecution charged Ramos for alleged illegal disbursement of government funds to BIDA Productions, the court noted that the processing of the fund requests and approval went through various offices in Pagcor before reaching the desk of the accused.
“There is absolutely nothing from the records of these cases that demonstrates that accused Ramos had a role in the selection of BIDA Production/Foundation Inc., as the project partner of Pagcor,” the court pointed out.
It emphasized that Ramos’ simple act of affixing her signature on documents does not constitute a criminal offense, particularly as the documents already had the imprimatur of other heads of offices of the agency.
“The requests for financial assistance came from Pagcor’s top level management through CCSD head King and Pagcor chairman Genuino. Thus, it is inconceivable for accused Ramos … to override the judgment of Genuino,” the Sandiganbayan said.
