Davao del Sur Governor Cagas faces raps over ‘pork scam’

The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the filing of criminal charges against recently elected Davao Del Sur governor Douglas Cagas over his alleged involvement in the pork barrel scam during his term as congressman of the province in 2007.

In a consolidated resolution recently signed by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, Cagas was ordered charged before the Sandiganbayan with:

• two counts of violation of Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act;
• another two counts of malversation of public funds as defined under Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC), and
• one count of direct bribery under Article 210 also of the RPC.

Based on the Ombudsman’s investigation, Cagas in 2007, reportedly allocated P16 million of his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or "pork barrel" to two of the fake foundations supposedly owned by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged mastermind of the pork barrel scam:

• the Countrywide Agri and Rural Economic and Development Foundation, Inc. (CARED) and
• the Philippine Social Development Foundation, Inc. (PSDFI).

The Ombudsman said Cagas personally wrote to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for the released of his P16-million worth PDAF to CARED and PSDFI coursed through the Technology Resource Center (TRC).

The fund was for the supposed implementation of Cagas’ livelihood and technical assistance projects in the province, which, the Ombudsman said, turned out to be “ghost projects.”

The Ombudsman said, upon verification by its field investigators, it was found out that there were no deliveries made to the supposed beneficiaries of the projects.

The Ombudsman said anomalies were also found in the selection of CARED and PSDFI as project implementers, as the two foundations supposedly lacked accreditation and track record to carry out the projects.

The Ombudsman said the TRC officials also failed to conduct an audit of the NGOs as well as the suppliers of the livelihood kits.

The Ombudsman also took note of the unusual haste in the processing of the disbursement vouchers representing the payment and release of funds to CARED and PSDFI as they were all allegedly approved in one day.

“Cagas directly chose CARED and PSDFI, which were headed or controlled by Napoles and her cohorts, to implement his projects without the benefit of public bidding, and without being authorized by an appropriation law or ordinance,” the Ombudsman’s resolution read.

The Ombudsman also gave weight on the testimonies of the whistleblowers that Cagas supposedly received P9.3-million worth of kickbacks in exchange for the allocation of his PDAF to the Napoles-linked foundations.

The Ombudsman said that based on the testimonies of the whistleblowers, it was former Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) chairman Zenaida Ducut who used to received the kickbacks on Cagas’ behalf.

GMA News Online is exerting efforts to reach Cagas as of posting time.

Also ordered charged with graft and malversation were Ducut, Napoles and the following former officials of TRC and DBM:

• Technology Resource Center (TRC) former director general Antonio Ortiz;
• TRC former deputy director general Dennis Cunanan;
• TRC former group manager Francisco Figura;
• TRC former chief accountant Marivic Jover;
• TRC former Promotion Officer V Belina Concepcion;
• TRC former internal auditor Maurine Dimaranan;
• Department of Budget and Management (DBM) former undersecretary Mario Relampagos;
• DBM former budget and management specialist Rosario Nuñez;
• DBM former administrative assistants Marilou Bare and Lalaine Paule.

Also ordered charged with graft and malversation were private individuals Mylene Encarnacion, Evelyn De Leon, and Eulogio Rodriguez.

Napoles, meanwhile, was also ordered charged with two counts of Corruption of Public Officials as defined under Article 212 of the RPC.

In April of this year, the Ombudsman has filed graft and malversation cases against Cagas’ son Marc Douglas Cagas IV for the latter’s alleged involvement in the pork barrel scam.

The younger Cagas is accused of allocating P7.550 million of his PDAF during his term as representative of Davao Del Sur in 2008 to the Napoles-linked foundations in exchanged for alleged kickbacks.

The charge sheets, however, did not indicate the total amount of kickbacks allegedly received by Cagas IV. — VVP, GMA News