Ombudsman dismisses Enrile staff, 10 others for PDAF scam involvement

February 27, 2017

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales has ordered the dismissal from the service of 12 respondents in the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam after they were found guilty of grave misconduct, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service and dishonesty, a statement from the Ombudsman on Monday.

Ordered dismissed were Jessica Lucila Reyes (chief of staff, Office of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile), Jose Antonio Evangelista II (deputy chief of staff, Office of Senator Enrile), Victor Roman Cacal (Paralegal, National Agribusiness Corporation), Gondelina Amata (president, National Livelihood Development Corporation), Chita Jalandoni (Department Manager III, NLDC), Emmanuel Alexis Sevidal (Director IV, NLDC), Ofelia Ordoñez (Cashier, NLDC), Filipina Rodriguez (Budget Officer, NLDC), Sofia Cruz (Project Development Assistant IV), Dennis Cunanan (Director General, Technology Resource Center), Consuelo Lilian Espiritu (Budget Officer, TRC) and Marivic Jover (Chief Accountant, TRC).

The dismissal order carries with it the accessory penalties of perpetual disqualification from holding public office and forfeiture of all retirement benefits.  In the event of separation from the service, the penalty is convertible to a fine equivalent to respondent’s salary for one year.

Reyes, et. al. are also being tried before the Sandiganbayan for their involvement in the anomalous utilization of the 2007 to 2009 PDAF of Enrile.

Investigation found that from 2004 to 2010, Enrile endorsed the implementation of his PDAF-funded livelihood and agricultural production projects in different parts of the country to questionable non-government organizations associated with or controlled by Janet Lim Napoles.

From 2007 to 2009, a total of P345,000,000.00 was released by the Department of Budget and Management as part of Enrile’s PDAF.  After the fund release, Enrile identified the NABCOR, NLDC and TRC as implementing agencies.  To facilitate the scam, Enrile, through Reyes, authorized Evangelista, to act for the Senator, deal with the parties involved in the process and sign documents necessary for the immediate and timely implementation of his PDAF-funded projects.

The P345M fund was allegedly used to buy tools and implements, financial grants and subsidies, technical assistance technology transfer through video courses (VCDs), printed materials, vegetable seeds, hand tools, gloves, masks, vests, caps, garden tools, knapsack sprayers, fertilizer, gardening packages, rakes, agricultural livelihood packages, agricultural chemicals, and small scale agri-packages. DMS