1 week ago
10
Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!
Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.
Visit Suniway.ph to learn
Elizabeth Marcelo - The Philippine Star
December 9, 2025 | 12:00am
Janet Lim-Napoles is shown in this file photo.
STAR / File
MANILA, Philippines — Janet Lim-Napoles will spend the rest of her life in prison after the Sandiganbayan sentenced her to over 100 years in cumulative jail terms for multiple counts of malversation and graft over the misuse of the late Benguet representative Samuel Dangwa’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).
In a 165-page decision promulgated on Dec. 5, the Sandiganbayan Third Division found Napoles guilty of six counts of malversation of public funds under Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code and another six counts of violation of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
For two counts of malversation involving large sums of public money, she was sentenced to a life term or 20 to 40 years for each count.
For the four remaining malversation charges, she received 10 to 17 years of imprisonment each, while for each of the six graft charges, she was sentenced to six to 10 years in prison.
Aside from the prison terms, the Sandiganbayan also ordered Napoles to pay P44 million – the amount found to have been malversed – along with another P44 million to the Bureau of the Treasury as civil liability.
Other convicts in the case include National Livelihood Development Corp. president Gondelina Amata (life sentence for malversation and six years for graft); former Technology Resource Center deputy director general Dennis Cunanan (life term plus 12 years for malversation and 18 years for graft); former TRC group manager Ma. Rosalinda Lacsamana (10 years for malversation and six years for graft); former Countrywide Agri and Rural Economic Development Foundation Inc. president Mylene Encarnacion (life term plus two years for malversation and 12 years for graft) and congressional staff member Erwin Dangwa (10 years for malversation and six years for graft).
The court had earlier dismissed the cases against the primary accused, Samuel Dangwa, due to his death in 2019.
Filed by the Office of the Ombudsman in 2015, the cases stemmed from the alleged misuse of Dangwa’s PDAF from 2001 to 2010 during his tenure as Benguet representative.
According to the ombudsman, Dangwa allowed the allocation of P44 million of his PDAF to bogus non-government organizations (NGOs) owned by Napoles in exchange for kickbacks or commissions amounting to P26.7 million.
However, none of the agricultural livelihood projects supposedly funded through Dangwa’s PDAF was ever implemented by the Napoles-linked NGOs.
The court said prosecutors presented ample documentary and testimonial evidence showing a conspiracy to divert public funds.
It ruled that the NGOs’ disbursement papers, accomplishment reports, fund utilization statements, delivery receipts and certificates of acceptance were all fabricated, rendering these to be “ghost projects.”
“It is clear that the funds were misappropriated through these fictitious projects, as no actual services or goods were provided to the intended beneficiaries… These actions constitute a deliberate scheme to defraud the government and misappropriate public funds,” the decision, penned by Associate Justice Ronald Moreno, read.
Associate Justices Edgardo Caldona and Arthur Malabaguio concurred with the ruling.
Napoles is currently detained at the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City for her 2018 conviction for plunder in connection with the misuse of P517 million in PDAF of former senator Bong Revilla.
