Janet Lim-Napoles has been found guilty of six counts of malversation of public funds and six counts of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, earning her cumulative jail terms of more than 100 years. The Sandiganbayan Third Division handed down the ruling in a 165-page decision promulgated on December 5, concluding that Napoles illegally diverted the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of the late Benguet representative Samuel Dangwa.
For two malversation charges involving large sums of public money, Napoles received life sentences of 20 to 40 years each. She was also given 10 to 17 years for each of the four remaining malversation counts, and six to 10 years for each of the six graft convictions.
Beyond the prison terms, the court ordered her to return ₱44 million in malversed funds and pay another ₱44 million to the Bureau of the Treasury as civil liability.
Several former government officials and NGO executives were also convicted. Among them were National Livelihood Development Corp. president Gondelina Amata, former Technology Resource Center (TRC) deputy director general Dennis Cunanan, TRC group manager Ma. Rosalinda Lacsamana, former Countrywide Agri and Rural Economic Development Foundation Inc. president Mylene Encarnacion, and congressional staff member Erwin Dangwa. Sentences ranged from six years to multiple life terms depending on their roles.
The primary accused, former Congressman Samuel Dangwa, was previously dropped from the case following his death in 2019.
Filed by the Office of the Ombudsman in 2015, the cases stemmed from the alleged misuse of Dangwa’s PDAF between 2001 and 2010. Investigators determined that Dangwa allocated ₱44 million to Napoles-controlled NGOs, which prosecutors later established were bogus. In return, he allegedly received ₱26.7 million in commissions.
None of the agricultural or livelihood projects supposedly funded ever materialized. The court ruled that a conspiracy existed to divert public funds, citing fabricated disbursement documents, accomplishment reports, utilization statements, delivery receipts, and certificates of acceptance. These false records supported what the court described as “ghost projects.”
The decision, penned by Associate Justice Ronald Moreno, emphasized that the scheme was a deliberate attempt to defraud the government. Associate Justices Edgardo Caldona and Arthur Malabaguio concurred.
Napoles remains detained at the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City, where she is already serving a sentence for her 2018 plunder conviction involving the PDAF of former senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.
