The Sandiganbayan has once again brought the spotlight back to the country’s most notorious corruption scandal, handing down a 68-year sentence to businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, along with two former government officials, over the misuse of public funds tied to the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).
Napoles—already serving time for plunder in connection with the Bong Revilla PDAF case—was found guilty alongside Gondelina Amata, former president of the now-defunct National Livelihood Development Corp. (NLDC), and Michael Lim Benjamin, the former political officer of ex-senator Gregorio Honasan II.
The Sandiganbayan’s Third Division ruled that the trio conspired to divert Honasan’s PDAF allocations between 2009 and 2010, amounting to over P29 million, to a bogus non-government organization, Agri & Economic Program for Farmers Foundation, Inc. (AEPFFI)—one of the Napoles-linked NGOs at the center of the so-called “pork barrel scam.”
The court convicted Napoles, Amata, and Benjamin of multiple crimes: violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, malversation of public funds, and three counts of malversation through falsification of public documents.
Each was sentenced to six to ten years for graft, twelve to seventeen years for malversation, and an additional six to seventeen years for each count of falsification. While the combined terms reach 68 years, Philippine law caps imprisonment at a maximum of 40 years for any single individual.
Aside from jail time, the three were also ordered to pay P15 million each in fines, plus another P15 million jointly owed to the government as civil liability—with six percent annual interest from the finality of the decision until full payment.
The ruling, penned by Associate Justice Ronald Moreno and concurred with by Justices Kevin Narce Vivero and Edgardo Caldona, was promulgated via video conference. Napoles appeared virtually from the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong, where she is already detained.
Counsels for Amata and Benjamin have signaled their intent to appeal the decision, with the court allowing both to remain free on their previous P510,000 bail pending resolution of their motions for reconsideration.
This latest verdict adds another chapter to the long-running saga of the pork barrel scandal—a corruption web that siphoned off billions in public funds meant for development projects.
Though Napoles has become synonymous with the scam that shook Philippine politics in the 2010s, this conviction reinforces the continuing ripple effect of accountability cases slowly winding through the judicial system.
Former senator Honasan, whose PDAF was linked to the transactions, was not charged in the case.
For the public, the decision serves as a reminder that even years after the scandal’s exposure, the pursuit of justice in the misuse of public funds remains a slow—but steady—process.