MANILA, Philippines – The anti-graft court denied the petition of the former chief of staff of the late Negros Oriental Representative Herminio Teves to appeal her conviction on charges of graft and malversation because her lawyer was negligent.
The Sandiganbayan in September 2023 found Hiram Diday Pulido guilty of one count of violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practice Act and also of malversation together with her co-accused who were fellow staff of Teves, former officers of the Technology and Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC), and an official of a non-government organization (NGO).
Pulido then filed a motion for reconsideration, appealing her conviction and claiming her lawyer neglected his duty by failing to provide her legal assistance.
A February 11, 2025 resolution of the Sandiganbayan’s Third Division denied Pulido’s appeal, saying: “The grounds for reconsideration proffered by Pulido cannot warrant a relaxation of the procedural rules. As stated in the assailed Resolution, Pulido is bound by the failure of Atty. Villamor to timely file the necessary pleading.”
Pulido and four others were found guilty of the anomalous use of P10 million in Teves’ Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), originally intended for livelihood programs but was diverted to ghost projects in 2007.
Upon her conviction in September 2023 , Pulido was sentenced to six to ten years imprisonment for one count of violation of graft and 12 to 18 years for malversation.
Also convicted were her co-accused: former Technology and Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC) deputy director general Dennis Cunanan, chief accountant Marivic Jover, legislative liaison officer Belina Concepcion and private defendant Samuel Bombeo, an officer of the NGO Molugan Foundation Incorporated (MFI).
The case against Teves was dismissed when he died 2019, while former TLRC department manager Francisco Figura was acquitted.
The defendants were convicted of conspiracy to transfer P9.6 million of Teves’ PDAF allocations into MFI. It was likewise found out that it was Teves who chose MFI as project partner.
The prosecution was able to prove that from the P10 million of Teves’ PDAF released to TLRC, P9.6 million went to MFI even though there was no public bidding. This violated provisions of RA 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act. The TLRC retained as “service fee” the P400,000 difference.
Previously, the Commission on Audit issued a notice of disallowance of the transaction saying it was “undertaken without due regard to existing laws and regulations.”
The disbursement was earmarked for the distribution of agricultural implements and livelihood assistance to poor families of the 3rd District of Negros Oriental under Teves.
COA’s special audit said that the transfer of the PDAF to MFI was illegal and irregular since NGOs were not included among the listed implementing arms of PDAF projects as specified in the General Appropriations Act of 2007.
The prosecutors meanwhile proved that MFI was not accredited by the government and it had no record of undertaking livelihood projects.
In Pulido’s motion for reconsideration, she asked the court to grant her another chance to file an appeal because her counsel defaulted on the deadline in filing her motion. She blamed her lawyer for her missing the period for filing a Notice of Appeal.
She also insisted on her innocence. She denied any knowledge of the transaction with MFI and the PDAF project. She added that her signatures on the documents presented during trial were all forgeries.
In throwing out her appeal, the anti-graft court said: “After a careful review, the court resolves to deny accused Pulido’s Motion for Reconsideration. This court finds that Pulido is also guilty of contributory negligence for losing her right to appeal. She did not exercise due diligence in monitoring the status of her cases.”
The Sandiganbayan also said that the filing of the challenge to her conviction was late not just by days or weeks but by several months. – Rappler.com