Floirendo’s conviction for graft affirmed

MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan has upheld the criminal conviction of former Davao del Norte congressman Antonio Floirendo Jr. in connection with his financial interests in a company that does business with the government.

In a resolution promulgated on Jan. 22, the anti-graft court’s Sixth Division said Floirendo failed to convince the court to reverse its decision.

In August last year, the Sandiganbayan sentenced Floirendo to six to eight years in prison for violating Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Aside from the jail term, Floirendo was perpetually disqualified from holding public office.

Filed by the Office of the Ombudsman in 2018, the case stemmed from Floirendo’s financial interests with the Tagum Agricultural Development Co. Inc. or Tadeco, a company doing business with the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).

In 1969, the BuCor entered into a joint venture agreement (JVA) with Tadeco, allowing the private company to lease a 3,000-hectare property at the Davao Penal Colony, which was used as a banana farm.

The ombudsman said Floirendo, a major financier of President Duterte’s 2016 presidential bid, was an elected official when the JVA was renewed in 2003.

It said that although Floirendo was no longer  a board member of Tadeco, he still owned 75,000 shares in the company worth P7.5 million and became its vice chairman in 2008.

Tadeco is among the world’s largest exporters of Cavendish bananas in Asia as well as in the Middle East and Russia, carrying the brands Del Monte and Dole.

In the new ruling, the Sixth Division maintained that Floirendo’s failure to divest his shares in Tadeco violated a provision in the Constitution, which prohibits government officials including members of the Senate and the House of Representatives from holding financial or pecuniary interests in private corporations engaging in business with the government.

The court found no merit in Floirendo’s argument that there was no conflict of interest in his case as his shares in Tadeco were equivalent only to .89 percent of the company’s outstanding shares of stocks.

The figure, he said, was not enoughfor him to be elected as a director of the company.

He said he neither participated in the management of Tadeco nor intervened in the approval of the joint venture with  the BuCor.

The Sixth Division said the actual conflict of interest or use of influence is not required for the prohibition as provided under the Constitution, but the mere holding of financial or pecuniary interests.

The resolution was penned by Associate Justice Sarah Jane Fernandez and concurred in by Associate Justices Karl Miranda and Efren de La Cruz.

Associate Justices Kevin Narce Vivero and Ronald Moreno dissented.