THE Sandiganbayan has sentenced a former Fund for Assistance to Private Education official to a maximum jail term of 160 years for seven counts of graft and five counts of malversation of public funds committed in 1994 and 1995.
The First Division found Ex-Fape president Adrian Arcelo guilty of the charges for allowing personal loans, and not for schools.
In a 57-page decision, the anti-graft court ruled Arcelo must suffer imprisonment of six years to 10 years for each count of graft and 10 years to 18 years for each count of malversation of public funds.
The Sandiganbayan rejected Arcelo’s defense that the involved money was not a public fund.
“Assuming arguendo [for the sake of argument] that Fape account 1003 comes from co-mingled funds from investments of private educational institutes, the moment they are received by Fape officers, they are considered government funds,” it ruled.
Along with Arcelo, ex-vice president Roberto Borromeo was meted out a jail term of 48 to 86 years for three counts of graft and three counts of malversation.
Also convicted were ex-investment director Rosa Anna Duavit for four counts of graft and five counts of malversation with imprisonment of 74 to 133 years, ex-officer in charge Corazon Nera for one count of graft and one count of malversation with imprisonment of 16 to 28 years.
Another accused, Cipriano Garcia, remained at-large.
Santiago, Borromeo and Nera committed “gross inexcusable negligence in approving and causing the release of personal loans of accused Arcelo out of the Fape funds,” the First Division said.
They were directed to pay a fine of P6,554,500 equivalent to the amount of loan released to Arcelo.
According to the Office of the Ombusman, Arcelo was able to get government loans from Fape account no. 1003 of P1.1269 million, P4.428 million, P260,000 and P480,000 in 1994, and P117,500 in 1995.
Fape also granted the John B. Lacson Colleges Foundation in 1997 a loan of over P50 million.
Mary Lou Lacson was then the foundation’s committee chairperson.