Muntinlupa mayor gets 8 years over PDAF scam

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Elizabeth Marcelo - The Philippine Star

May 31, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan has sentenced reelected Muntinlupa City Mayor Rozzano Rufino Biazon to up to eight years in prison for graft in connection with the alleged misuse of P3 million in his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel in 2007 during his term as Muntinlupa congressman.

In a 191-page decision promulgated yesterday, the Sandiganbayan Seventh Division found Biazon guilty of violation of Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Convicted with Biazon were detained businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged brains of the pork barrel scam, as well as Dennis Cunanan and Maria Rosalinda Lacsamana, deputy director general and group manager, respectively, of the defunct state firm Technology Resource Center (TRC), and private respondent Evelyn de Leon, president of non-government organization Philippine Social Development Foundation Inc. (PSDFI).

They were sentenced to six up to eight years of imprisonment and were also ordered perpetually disqualified from holding public office.

No civil liability was found against Biazon, Cunanan and Lacsamana.

On the other hand, Napoles and De Leon were found civilly liable and were ordered to jointly indemnify the government the amount of P2.7 million.

Biazon asserted that he will remain in office as he is set to appeal the guilty verdict handed down by the Sandiganbayan yesterday.

The camp of the Muntinlupa mayor said he will file a motion for reconsideration to clear him of the infamous PDAF scam.?

“It is worth clarifying that the decision is not yet final,” lawyer Mitchell-David Espiritu, Biazon’s spokesperson, said in a statement. “According to the law, Mayor Ruffy will remain as local chief executive, and he will continue providing service based on the mandate given to him by Muntinlupeños.”

Biazon underscored that he is already off the hook in three of the four cases filed against him for allegedly profiting from Napoles.

Biazon, and all the other accused, including former Department of Budget and Management (DBM) undersecretary Mario Relampagos as well as four former TRC officials namely, Francisco Figura, Marivic Jover, Maurine Dimaranan and Consuelo Lilian Espiritu were acquitted of malversation of public funds under Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code for the prosecution’s failure to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

Filed by the Office of the Ombudsman in 2016, the cases stemmed from the allocation of Biazon’s PDAF amounting to P3 million to PSDFI, one of the fake non-government organizations (NGOs) linked with Napoles. Biazon allegedly received P1.95 million worth of kickbacks from Napoles, in exchange for his PDAF allocation.

The kickbacks were supposedly received by Biazon through his alleged agent or bagman, former Energy Regulatory Commission chairperson Zenaida Ducut. The Seventh Division had earlier ordered the cases against Ducut to be temporarily archived as doctors confirmed that she is suffering dementia.

In 2023, the Seventh Division granted Biazon’s demurrer to evidence which effectively dismissed his direct bribery case, still in connection with the PDAF scam.

Oriental Mindoro’s Valencia gets 30 years over PDAF

Meanwhile, former Oriental Mindoro congressman Rodolfo Valencia was sentenced to up to 30 years in prison for three counts of graft in connection with the alleged misuse of his P6.51 million in PDAF in 2008 to 2009.

Convicted with Valencia of the same offense were Lim-Napoles, Cunanan and Lacsamana. They were sentenced to six up to 10 years of imprisonment for each count of the offense and were perpetually disqualified from holding public office. — EJ Macababbad

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