SC upholds guilty verdict vs. two ex-UP officials

Two former top officials of the University of the Philippines in Diliman could spend 17 years in jail for graft and misconduct after the Supreme Court upheld their conviction at the Sandiganbayan, unless they appeal the decision and convince the high court to reverse its ruling.

In a July 17 ruling written by Justice Martin Villarama Jr., the SC First Division upheld a Sandiganbayan ruling in 2005 against Dr. Roger Posadas and Dr. Rolando Dayco, former chancellor and vice-chancellor of UP Diliman.

The case refers to the establishment of the Technology Management Center (TMC), which offers a technology management graduate course on policy analysis and formulation for government, in 1995.

The Sandiganbayan ruled that Posadas and Dayco conspired to benefit from the project and found them guilty of violating Republic Act 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and Republic Act 6713, the Code of Ethics for Government Officials and Employees.

In its ruling released last week, the SC found a "conspiracy" between the two former UP officials to install Posadas, who was then the chancellor, as project manager for TMC, which would provide him with additional income.

The high court added that the accused caused the government undue injury worth P336,000, which went to Posadas' compensation.

Reached for comment, Posadas told GMA News Online he could not talk about the ruling upon the advice of his lawyers.

Under Rule 125 of the Rules of Court, Posadas and Dayco have 15 days from notice to file a motion for reconsideration at the high court.

Multiple compensation

According to the SC ruling, Posadas had assigned vice chancellor Dayco as chancellor in an officer-in-charge capacity when he traveled to China in 1995.

When Posadas returned, Dayco—still sitting as an OIC chancellor— appointed Posadas as project director and consultant in the creation of the TMC.

This entitled Posadas to multiple compensation that included a P30,000 honoraria and a P100,000 consultancy fee.

The UP Board of Regents claimed both appointments were illegal, as they were done without the authorization from the board and the UP president.

One of the witnesses in the case, Professor Jose Tabadda, testified that Posadas had approached him to ask how the then-Diliman Chancellor could secure the project director post.

Tabbada told Posadas that Dayco could appoint him, "an advice (that) turned out to have been pursued by petitioners," the court said.

In its ruling, the court said the two violated the rules against retroactivity of appointments and multiple compensation.

The high court said that even if the compensation given to Posadas came from a foreign agency, it became public in character after being given to a public official.

"The disbursement and payment of... monthly salary as project director to Posadas was improper, in view of his invalid appointment. Said amount represents the actual injury to the government," the court said.

"A conspiracy is proved by evidence of actual cooperation: of acts indicative of an agreement, a common purpose or design, a concerted action or concurrence of sentiments to commit the felony and actually pursue it... The Sandiganbayan's finding of conspiracy rests on firm factual support," the court said.

Campus politics?

In their defense, the petitioners claimed they were not given due process, and that they were victims of "university politics," since they were staunch critics of then-UP President Emil Javier.

The former UP officials were convicted of violating Section 3(e) of RA 3019 or causing undue injury to government, with a penalty of nine years to 15 years imprisonment and perpetual disqualification from public office.

They were also found to have violated Section 7(b) of the Code of Ethics for Government Officials and Employees against outside employment not allowed by law. They are penalized with a maximum of five years imprisonment.

Despite their case, Posadas and Dayco were still allowed to teach as part-time professors at UPD-TMC. — with Mark Merueñas/KBK, GMA News