MANILA – After pleading guilty to three graft charges that included “frauds against public treasury”, former Iloilo 2nd District congressman Augusto Syjuco Jr. was slapped with a P17,000 fine by the Sandiganbayan’s First Division for the alleged misuse of P4.3 million of his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) in 2000.
Also convicted by the anti-graft court was former Department of Agriculture Region 6 director Eduardo Lecciones Jr. who was fined P17,000 too.
Syjuco and Lecciones both pleaded guilty to the lesser offenses of violation of Article 213 (“Frauds Against Public Treasury”) and Article 218 (“Failure of an Accountable Officer to Render Account”) of the Revised Penal Code, as well as violation of Presidential Decree 1445 or the Government Auditing Code of the Philippines.
The fines, which were approved by Division Chairperson Associate Justice Efren de la Cruz and Associate Justices Geraldine Faith Econg and Edgardo Caldona, were as follows:
* P10,000 for violation of Article 213
* P6,000 for violation of Article 218
* P1,000 for violation of PD 1445
The Sandiganbayan division also ordered the lifting of the hold departure orders of against Syjuco and Lecciones in connection with the cases, as well as the release of their bonds.
“In view of the full liquidation of the amounts involved in these cases, there is no basis for the court to find civil liability against both accused,” read part of the Sandiganbayan decision dated July 23, 2019.
Syjuco was accused of entering into a disadvantageous contract and causing undue injury to the government by allocating his PDAF to nongovernment organization Tagipusuon Foundation via the Department of Agriculture regional office./PN
