The Sandiganbayan has found two former officers of the now-defunct Technology Resource Center — a government-owned or controlled organization — guilty of graft and malversation of public funds in connection with the pork barrel scam.
A special division of five justices sentenced ex-TRC group head Maria Rosalinda Lacsamana and ex-legislative liaison Belina Concepcion to six years imprisonment for one count of graft and 12 years for one count of malversation of public funds, for a total of 18 years, in a 61-page Decision promulgated on 14 October 2022.
The anti-graft court ordered Lacsamana to pay P10.56 million in fines and P21.12 million in civil liabilities, while Concepcion was ordered to pay P9.5 million in fines and P19 million, also for civil liabilities.
Aksyon Makamasa Foundation Inc. chairperson and private defendant Edison Sabio, meantime, was sentenced to 36 years in prison after being found guilty on two counts of graft and malversation.
He was also ordered to pay fines totaling P20.06 million and to indemnify the government in the amount of P40.12 million.
Although Associate Justice Bayani Jacinto disagreed with the majority opinion regarding the exoneration of former TRC director general Dennis Cunanan, group leader Francisco Figura, and chief accountant Marivic Jover, all five justices of the special division supported the conviction of the three accused.
The five justices on the special division agreed that the three accused should be found guilty, but Associate Justice Bayani Jacinto disagreed with the majority when it came to the exoneration of former TRC director general Dennis Cunanan, group leader Francisco Figura, and chief accountant Marivic Jover.
The majority decision was written by Associate Justice and Second Division Chair Oscar Herrera Jr., which was concurred by Associate Justices Michael Frederick Musngi, Efren de la Cruz, and Geraldine Faith Econg.