Devanadera, 3 others to stand trial for graft

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales has junked the motions for reconsideration filed by former Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera and her co-accused in connection with the graft and malversation charges filed against them. Devanadera is facing four counts each of graft and malversation over allegations that she paid herself and her staff unlawful allowances and pocketed sums earmarked for the purchase of printed materials while she was head of the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) in 2007. Aside from junking their motions for reconsideration, Carpio-Morales also dismissed the motion for reinvestigation filed by assistant government corporate counsel Jose Marie Capili. Devanadera, Capili and former accountant Divina Gracia F. Cruz were named co-defendants in all eight criminal charges while Rolando Faller, former head executive assistant of OGCC, is facing two counts each of graft and malversation. Government auditors said Devanadera and Faller received P500,000 and P200,000 as attorneys’ fees from the special assessment fee put up by the Government Service Insurance System. The same audit report noted that sums of P100,000 given to Devanadera and P30,000 given to Faller “for the purchase of reading materials to aid them in the discharge of their functions" were either deposited in the banks or converted into cash. Graft Investigation and Prosecution Officer II Camilo S. Correa said the two failed to present any proof such as official receipts, invoices or delivery receipts showing that they had actually purchased the reading materials. Devanadera and Faller filed their motions for reconsideration on June 3, two days after the charges were filed against them. The Sandiganbayan, in an order dated June 16, 2011, deferred proceedings until the motions are resolved. In affirming the indictments, the Ombudsman held that neither Devanadera nor Faller are entitled to pay themselves attorneys’ fees out of the GSIS special assessment fees because the said funds “do not constitute attorney’s fees awarded to the GSIS in a judicial proceedings." “(T)here is nothing in the law, rules and regulations invoked by the respondents which would entitle respondents Devanadera and Faller to the amounts of P 500,000.00 and P 200,000.00 respectively, by way of attorney’s fees," the Ombudsman declared. On the questioned purchase of printed materials, prosecutors said the case stands even if Government Corporate Counsel Alberto Agra later remitted to the OGCC the amount of P 130,000 on January 27, 2009 – two years after they were disbursed to the respondents. “It is puerile for accused to argue that the element of undue injury is absent in this case because there has already been a restitution of the amount of P 130,000.00 through GCC Alberto Agra. The injury in this case stems from the fact that the government was effectively deprived of the use of its public funds in the amount of P130,000 from the time the same was received by respondents in January 2007," they pointed out. — KBK, GMA News