'Guilty' ang hatol ng Sandiganbayan sa aktor na si Roderick Paulate sa kasong graft at falsification kaugnay sa pagkuha umano nito ng "ghost employees" noong 2010 nang nagsisilbi pa siyang konsehal ng Quezon City. Dati nang itinanggi ni Paulate ang mga paratang laban sa kaniya.
Sa 130-pahinang desisyon na may petsang November 25, sinabi ng anti-graft court na inirekomenda ni Paulate ang pagkuha sa 30 katao sa ilalim ng "job contracts" at sumahod ng mula July hanggang December 2010, kahit pa may mga iregularidad sa Personal Data Records ng mga ito.
Ayon sa Sandiganbayan, napatunayan ng government prosecutors ang mga sumusunod:
- job order employees have no records of birth;
- none of the job order employees have requested for a National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) clearance;
- the job order employees could not be located at their given residences;
- the job order employees were not registered voters of their respective barangays; at
- the job order employees have no record in the schools where they allegedly attended
“Given the above findings and in addition to the other pieces of evidence presented, the prosecution has well established that the entries in the Personal Data Sheet (PDS) of the job contractors were indeed falsified,” paliwanag sa desisyon.
“The defense did not give any logical explanation for the glaring inaccuracies of the entries in the PDS or adduce any evidence to show the truth thereof,” dagdag nito.
Hinatulan ng korte si Paulate at kapuwa niya akusado na noo'y driver/liaison officer na si Vicente Bajamunde, na makulong ng mula anim hanggang walong taon, at hindi na maaaring humawak ng posisyon sa gobyerno, para sa kasong katiwalian.
Inatasan din sina Paulate at Bajamunde na bayaran ang gobyerno ng P1.109 milyon, at tubo na 6% per year.
Sa kasong falsification of public documents, hinatulan ng korte si Paulate na makulong ng mula six na buwan hanggang anim na taon, at multang P10,000 (bawat isa sa eight count).
Napawalang-sala naman sa naturang kaso si Bajamunde.
Hinatulan din si Paulate ng pagkakakulong ng anim na buwan hanggang walong taon, at multa na P10,000 para sa kasong falsification by a public officer charge.
Sa paglilitis, ipinaliwanag ni Paulate na ang mga sertipikasyon mula sa mga paaralan at barangay ay patunay na fictitious na tao ang mga job contractor.
Pero para sa mga mahistrado ng Sandiganbayan, sinabi nito na "this does not amount to a convincing defense that deserves credence from this court.”
“It is to be emphasized that the prosecution has consistently showed that the entries in the educational background in the PDS of the job contractors were false because they either do not have records in the schools which they claimed to have attended, or the schools they indicated were not yet established at the time they claimed to have been enrolled or graduated,” giit ng anti-graft court.
“These are not just mere inaccuracies in the PDS entries that could be considered as innocuous but are indicative of an intent to introduce fictitious information. The defense even listed the job contractors as their witnesses during the pre-trial. However, as bolstered by the records, none of the job contractors were presented to testify and prove their existence,” dagdag pa ng korte.
Wala rin umanong naipakitang katibayan, at puro pagtanggi lamang sa alegasyon ang naibigay na testimonya ng mga testigo ng depensa.
“It is well settled that testimonial evidence is easy to fabricate. Thus, in the weighing of evidence, documentary evidence prevails over testimonial evidence. Accused Paulate and all defense witnesses are consistent in their statements that they are not familiar with or have not met the job contractors and yet, they did not verify their existence during the submission of the PDS and until these cases have been filed,” ayon sa Sandiganbayan.
“Only one thing comes to our mind: they know that there is nothing to verify because the job contractors do not exist. Further, assuming that there was an effort to locate the job contractors, the fact that not even one of them could be located only strengthens the prosecution’s claim that the PDS were fabricated and that these job contractors are indeed fictitious," patuloy ng korte. —FRJ, GMA Integrated News