Ex-Marcos adviser acquitted of malversation charges

A former economic adviser of the late President Ferdinand Marcos has been acquitted of malversation charge by the Sandiganbayan Second Division after 16 years of trial due to the prosecutors' failure to present sufficient evidence against him. Juan Roberto Abling was charged in connection with an alleged unaccounted P22 million intelligence fund supposedly delivered to Marcos days before the snap presidential elections on Feb. 7, 1986. "(T)he prosecution ought to have presented direct evidence that the accused put to his own personal use the amount subject matter of the case," the Sandiganbayan Second Division said in its 27-page decision. "There is simply nothing in the records which would show or otherwise suggest that the accused has appropriated for his benefit the amount of P22,000,000." The amount was allegedly given to Marcos in three installments — P10 million, P5 million and P7 million. Court records showed that the amount was part of the P35 million Marcos allegedly ordered Abling to withdraw in a memorandum dated Jan. 15, 1986. Abling admitted in his testimony that he made the withdrawals. He also said he deposited the remaining P13 million to the ESF Secretariat, which placed the fund in a new account at the Land Bank of the Philippines. The prosecutors did not contest this claim. Prosecutors, however, could not find the P22 million Abling claimed to have given to Marcos, and accused him of pocketing it. The fund shortage was discovered through a special audit of all confidential funds under the Marcos government . Prosecution witness, Fe Ramirez Muñoz, resident auditor of the ESF, said Abling submitted an incomplete liquidation when she sent him to demand leaders. She said this prompted the COA not to accept the P22 million as a cash advance and ordered Abling to refund the full amount. The case was filed at the Sandiganbayan on Aug. 4, 1995, but trial was delayed because Abling remained at large until his voluntary surrender four years later. Testifying in his own defense, Abling presented three undated memoranda by Marcos bearing the late strongman's supposed marginal signatures signifying receipt of the P22 million in separate installments. In acquitting Abling, the Sandiganbayan Second Division noted that the three undated memoranda had to be given weight because Prosecutor Diosdado Calonge failed to challenge their authenticity. "It is well to note that during the cross-examination of Abling, Prosecutor Calonge manifested that he would want the signature of President Marcos…examined by a handwriting expert of the National Bureau of Investigation. Sadly …nothing came out of it because the prosecution seemed to have abandoned the idea when no expert witness from the NBI was presented in the succeeding hearings," it said. The Sandiganbayan also said the prosecution failed to file its memorandum supposedly containing the summary of its arguments and evidence, while Abling was able to submit his as early as March 14, 2006. "All the foregoing can just be considered by the Court as casting reasonable doubt with regard to the guilt of the accused. Therefore, as the prosecution has failed to demonstrate the guilt of the accused by the required measure of proof, we cannot convict the accused of malversation of public funds," the court said. — KBK, GMA News