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While Flerida Alberto has been acquitted of the P9.7-million charges, the court had previously convicted her of six counts of graft and malversation of public funds
MANILA, Philippines – The Sandiganbayan junked P9.7-million scam charges against Flerida Alberto, president of Kabuhayan at Kalusugang Alay sa Masa Foundation, Inc. (KKAMFI) and former mayor of Virac, Caanduanes — one of the alleged nongovernmental organizations implicated in the Priority Development Assistant Fund (PDAF) scam.
The anti-graft court in a decision dated October 31, 2024 noted that the prosecution failed to prove allegations beyond reasonable doubt, questioning the authenticity of the documents presented.
“Conspiracy must be proved as convincingly as the criminal act itself,” the court noted in its 102-page decision. “Like any element of the offense charged, conspiracy must be established by proof beyond reasonable doubt.”
KKAMFI was one of the top NGOs that received funding from the pork barrel scam led by Janet Lim-Napoles.
Alberto had been accused of working with officials from the National Agribusiness Corporation (Nabcor) on a P9.7-million ghost project, using funds sourced from the late San Jose del Monte City Representative Eduardo Roquero’s PDAF.
Former Nabcor president Alan Javellana; KKAMFI project coordinator and Alberto’s sister Marilou Antonio; and CC Barredo Publishing House owner Carmelita Barredo — the supposed supplier of the livelihood kits — were named as co-defendants in the case.
Roquero died 13 years before cases were filed.
While the project itself never materialized and KKAMFI was found to have provided fake addresses — its Pasig address was home to a family, while its Quezon City apartment did not exist — there was not enough evidence to link Alberto to the transaction.
The court noted that the only evidence against Alberto was a purchase order to CC Barredo for 4,850 sets of livelihood technology kits on March 21, 2007.
Alberto denied participating in the transaction, claiming that the purchase order with her signature might have been forged. There were no handwriting experts during the trial.
However, the Sandiganbayan cross-checked the PDAF documents presented for the case against Alberto’s signatures on other documents — from the birth certificate of her child and bank cheques in 2008.
“After scrupulous examination of the aforesaid specimen signatures, the Court is convinced that the same were not written by the same person,” the Sandiganbayan said. “Even to the untrained eye, the differences between the signatures are patent.”
The court added that the prosecution also failed to present “any credible evidence showing how accused Alberto acted in cooperation to achieve a common malicious purpose.”
Even her relationship to KKAMFI project coordinator Antonio — her sister — was brushed off by the court.
“As consistently held by the Supreme Court, conspiracy transcends companionship. There must be established a logical relationship between the commission of the crime and the supposed conspirators, evidencing a clear and more intimate connection between and among the latter,” the court said.
Javellana, Antonio, Barredo remain at large. The cases against the three have been archived and an alias warrant has been ordered against them.
An alias warrant is issued when the original warrant has not been served, usually because the suspect could not be found. It allows authorities to renew their efforts to apprehend the person.
While Flerida Alberto has been acquitted of the P9.7-million scam charges, the court had previously convicted her of six counts of graft and malversation of public funds. – Rappler.com
