MANILA — Former La Union 2nd District representative Thomas Carlos Dumpit, Jr. and his co-accused in his Priority Development Assistance Fund scam cases have been acquitted by the Sandiganbayan 1st Division.

In the decision of the anti-graft court promulgated on July 3, 2023, the prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt the culpability of all the accused in multiple graft, malversation of public funds, and malversation of public funds through falsification of public documents.

“Viewed in its entirety, the evidence for the prosecution is insufficient to support a judgment of conviction,” the court said in the decision penned by Associate Justice Geraldine Faith Econg, with the concurrence of Division Chairperson Efren De La Cruz and Associate Justice Arthur Malabaguio.

Also acquitted were Dumpit’s co-accused, namely Gondelina Amata, Ofelia Ordoñez, Gregoria Buenaventura, Sofia Cruz, Flerida Alberto, Godofredo Roque, Lilibeth Aloot-Macazo.

In the information filed by the Office of the Ombudsman in 2017, a total amount of P45 million of Dumpit’s PDAF were used in 2009 for fictitious projects through a concerted effort among the accused on the processing and approval of disbursements and liquidations of government funds.

During the trial, the defense presented hand-writing expert Atty. Desiderio Pagui who was the former chief document examiner of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

Pagui testified that after a thorough analysis of questioned and known signatures of Dumpit, the questioned signatures are not genuine.

“The fact that the signatures are forged is further bolstered by the fact that there was no witness both of the prosecution and the defense, who was even familiar with the signature of accused Dumpit or who even saw him sign any of the documents relevant to these cases,” the court said.

The prosecution also stressed during the trial that Dumpit personally selected the non-government organization Kabuhayan at Kalusugan Alay sa Masa Foundation, Inc. or KKAMFI as a project partner through his endorsement letters.

“The tenor of these endorsement letters are clear - these are merely recommendatory,” the court said.

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