NGO chief gets 26 years over ‘pork’ scam

MANILA, Philippines — The head of a non-government organization (NGO) has been sentenced to 26 years in prison for alleged involvement in the pork barrel scam.

In a 56-page decision promulgated on April 29, the Sandiganbayan said Mylene Encarnacion, president of the Countrywide Agri and Rural Economic and Development Foundation Inc. (CARED), is guilty of violating Section 3(e) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and malversation of public funds.

Encarnacion was sentenced to six to eight years in prison for the graft offense and disqualified from holding public office.

For malversation, the anti-graft court sentenced Encarnacion to 10 to 18 years in prison.

The defendant was ordered to pay a fine of P5 million, equivalent to the amount of public funds she supposedly misused, with a corresponding interest of six percent per annum.

The Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division ordered the charges against primary accused Antonio Ortiz, chief of the abolished state firm Technology and Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC), archived until he is arrested.

Filed by the Office of the Ombudsman in 2022, the charges stemmed from the alleged misuse of P5 million in Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel of former La Union congressman Manuel Ortega in 2007.

Investigation showed the TLRC was chosen to be a partner-implementor of Ortega’s livelihood project that was funded by the lawmaker’s PDAF.

The TLRC entered into an agreement with the CARED for the implementation of Ortega’s project.

The ombudsman said Ortiz processed and approved the release of Ortega’s PDAF to the CARED without verifying the accreditation and capability of the NGO to carry out the project.

The ombudsman said the project was never implemented, but the budget was released to the CARED, which failed to liquidate the funds.

State prosecutors found no probable cause to implicate Ortega in the charges.

The Fifth Division said the ombudsman presented sufficient proof showing the funds were misused.