MANILA, Philippines – The Sandiganbayan acquitted two executives from the Trade and Investment Development Corporation (Tidcorp), now known as the Philippine Export-Import Credit Agency (Philexim), along with two private traders, of graft charges over a 2003 government guarantee on a P1.8-billion loan that went into default.
In a 106-page decision dated Tuesday, December 10, the anti-graft court cleared the following of any criminal liability linked to the transaction:
- Tidcorp executive vice president for marketing Rolando ALonzo
- Tidcorp marketing group account officer Teresita Cometa
- World Granary Inc. (WGI) shareholders and officers Alison Sy and Renato Ang
The Ombudsman, which filed the graft case in 2015, had accused the Tidcorp officers of giving undue preference towards WGI, a bulk grain trader, by endorsing a guarantee facility for the firm despite its supposed lack of qualifications.
When WGI defaulted on its loan obligations, Tidcorp, as guarantor, was left no choice but to shoulder the debt payments. The Ombudsman argued that the financial injury suffered by the government from that episode amounted to P4.23 billion.
In 2021, Tidcorp accepted payment of P966 million from WGI as satisfaction of its claim against the firm, but the Sandiganbayan still rejected a motion to dismiss the case despite the settlement. Prosecutors had insisted that the payment was less than 12 percent of the total amount due as of 2017.
But now, the Sandiganbayan 6th Division ruled that evidence was not enough to prove that Alonzo and Cometa were responsible for approving the loan guarantee, as Tidcorp’s board of directors had the final say on the matter.
It also did not see any evidence of conspiracy among the accused, adding that WGI’s default on the loans was not proof of irregularity.
“It would appear that WGI’s application went through an honest-to-goodness process. Contrary to what the prosecution attempted to demonstrate, it was shown that WGI’s guarantee application passed through a stringent process for its objective evaluation,” the ruling read.
The court rejected the prosecution’s characterization of the project as a “white elephant” and concluded that it was a “legitimate and meritorious commercial transaction which, unfortunately, did not pan out.” – Rappler.com