Pichay on graft conviction: No guilt beyond reasonable doubt

MANILA, Philippines — After his conviction for graft, Deputy Speaker Prospero Pichay Jr. said government prosecutors failed to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt before the Sandiganbayan.

He vowed to exhaust all legal remedies to appeal his conviction on allegations that the government was put in a disadvantageous position during his term as chairman of the Local Water Utilities Administration in 2009.

Pichay also questioned the anti-graft court’s decision to imprison him and former LWUA acting deputy administrator Wilfredo Feleo Jr. for up to 30 years when the case was for conspiracy – where the act of one is the act of all.

“This is a case of conspiracy for allegedly violating the Anti-Graft Law (Republic Act 3019). Originally, there were 22 accused in this case which is why the recent decision of the Sandiganbayan came as a surprise,” he noted.

Pichay reiterated that the ombudsman prosecutors have not been able to establish his guilt on LWUA’s acquisition of Express Savings Bank Inc. (ESBI), a local thrift bank based in Laguna owned by Forum Pacific Inc. and the Gatchalian family’s Wellex Group Inc.

The outgoing Surigao del Sur congressman was indicted in 2016 for acquiring ESBI without the required approval of the Office of the President (OP), Monetary Board (MB) of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and Department of Finance (DOF).

“It is noteworthy that even the dispositive portion of the decision, they admitted that no civil liability is adjudged against me in view of the fact that LWUA public funds invested in ESBI is under receivership and liquidation of the PDIC,” he said.

“So it is baffling: how can there be undue injury to the government? Well-entrenched in jurisprudence is the rule that the burden of proof lies with the prosecution,” he added, noting that defendants are always presumed innocent until proven otherwise.

The decision sentencing Pichay and Feleo up to 30 years in jail was handed down by the anti-graft court’s Fourth Division and was penned by Justice Lorifel Pahimna, with the concurrence of Justices Alex Quiroz and Edgardo Caldona.

In a 66-page decision promulgated on June 7, the Fourth Division found Pichay and Feleo guilty of three counts violation of Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

They were sentenced to six up to 10 years of imprisonment for each count or a total of 18 to 30 years. The court also ordered their perpetual disqualification from public office.

The ombudsman said that a total of 445,377 stocks were bought by LWUA from ESBI for P80 million despite the bank’s insolvency status after suffering substantial net losses and capital deficits for five straight years, from 2005 to 2009.

The LWUA also allegedly transferred a total of P700 million to ESBI, composed of P300 million in deposit to its savings account and P400 million in cash infusion to augment the bank’s capital stocks, again without the required approval of the BSP’s Monetary Board.

In convicting the two former LWUA officials, the Fourth Division said aside from the lack of prior approval from the OP, BSP and DOF, the acquisition of ESBI had also caused undue injury to the government.

“Ultimately, the absence of the required MB approval resulted in losses on the part of the government in the total amount of P780 million. This amount could have been used for other endeavors to help local water utilities,” a portion of the decision read.