Two former high-ranking officials of the Technology and Resource Center (TRC) were acquitted by the Sandiganbayan of graft and malversation supposedly for misusing the discretionary funds of a former Compostela Valley representative from 2007 to 2013.
In a 57-page decision promulgated by the court鈥檚 Second Division on Aug. 4, former TRC Director General Dennis Cunanan and Corporate Support Services Manager Francisco Figura were cleared by the court after the prosecution failed to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
However, it found their former colleague, former TRC legislative liaison Rosalinda Lacsamana, guilty of the same charges and sentenced her to up to 18 years in jail and P30 million in civil damages.
Cunanan, Figura and Lacsamana were charged by the Office of the Ombudsman in 2019 supposedly for conspiring with one another and with the late Compostela Valley Rep. Prospero Amatong over a fraudulent P10-million project with nongovernmental organization Philippine Environmental and Ecological Development Association from 2007 to 2013.