Sandigan clears Danding in P8-M coco levy graft case

After eight years, the Sandiganbayan threw out yesterday the graft charges the government filed against San Miguel Corp. chief Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco and seven other people — three of whom are now deceased — for their alleged illegal donation of P8 million in coco levy funds to a private entity.

Justices Diosdado Peralta, Teresita Leonardo-de Castro and Roland Jurado reversed the anti-graft court’s October 2001 ruling that held Cojuangco and other officials of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) liable for donating to Philippine Coconut Producers Federation (Cocofed) P2 million in January 1984 and P6 million in December 1985.

In a 26-page resolution, the first division stated that while the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) has evidence the money transfer was "disallowed," the PCA’s auditor did not find anything anomalous in the transaction, much less in the PCA officials concerned.

The three PCA letters from the auditor in 1986 run counter to allegations made by the PCGG, the Ombudsman and the Office of the Solicitor General that there was bad faith in the donation, the resolution said.

"There is in fact, no mention that the disbursements were illegal, anomalous, irregular or excessive," the court said.

"Nothing in the said letters, however, characterized the donations as anomalous as adverted to by the OSG as the letters commonly allege that the disbursement vouchers had been disallowed in audit because the payment of financial assistance was not included in the budget," it added.

No criminal liability was even attributed to Cojuangco, the late PCA chief Felix Dueñas Jr., former agriculture secretary Salvador Escudero III, or even to board members Rolando dela Cuesta, Hermenegildo Zayco, Vicente Valdepeñas, Jose Eleazer (deceased) and the late Zamboanga City mayor Ma. Clara Lobregat.

"This court cannot, without violating its duty to dispense justice, maintain the resolution," the three justices said, referring to the anti-graft court’s original October 2001 ruling that held Cojuangco and the other PCA officials criminally liable for the Cocofed donation.

"Proceeding to trial, or to pre-trial for that matter, cannot cure the intrinsic defect of the instant information or rationalize that which have no basis in law or in fact," a portion of the verdict, penned by Peralta, stated.

The justices explained further the transactions were aboveboard since "Cocofed was then the indispensable partner of PCA in the implementation of the declared policy of the state to promote the development and growth of the coconut industry."

"In the second place, the national government had been the primary source of funds of Cocofed through the coconut levy," Peralta said. "Given the course of action taken by the accused, it would appear that the procedures undertaken were all regularly taken."

Charges against Lobregat, Eleazer and Dueñas were dismissed following their death, since the death of an accused automatically expunges him from the case.

The government accuses Cojuangco of illegally acquiring wealth by, among other charges, using levies on coconut farmers during the Marcos dictatorship.

In July last year, the Sandiganbayan forfeited Cojuangco’s controlling stake in United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB), which it said was acquired illegally using coconut levies.

UCPB has a 27-percent voting bloc in food and beverage giant San Miguel Corp., while Cojuangco controls 20 percent. The government contends that Cojuangco’s share should also be controlled by the state.

Cojuangco ran and lost in the 1992 presidential election and consoled himself by joining the ranks at San Miguel to turn around the fortunes of the regional brewer, which had been hit hard by the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

Late last year he considered making a second bid for the presidency in the last elections but backed out.