The Sandiganbayan acquitted retired Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Commandant, Admiral Rodolfo Isorena, and former PCG Captain, now Commodore Joeven Fabul, of seven counts of splitting of contracts, a  violation of Section 65 (a.4) of Republic Act (R.A.) No. 9184 otherwise known as the Government Reform Procurement Act.

In a decision penned by Associate Justice Arthur Malabagguio and concurred to by Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang, Associate Justices Oscar Herrera Jr., Michael Frederick Musngi, and Bayani Jacinto, the anti-graft court applied the Arias doctrine wherein it has been consistently held by the Supreme Court that the head of the office or agency can rely to a reasonable extent on the good faith of their subordinates and that there should be other grounds than the mere signature or approval appearing on a voucher to sustain a conspiracy charge and conviction.

These cases stemmed from an anonymous complaint disclosing the alleged anomalous utilization of PCG funds based on the Audit Observation Memorandum No. PCG-2015-018 (AOM 15-018) dated 15 April 2015, issued by the Commission on Audit (COA) pertaining to various liquidations of cash advances granted by the PCG and reimbursement of expenses submitted in Calendar Year 2014, in the amount of Php 67,533,289.73.

When asked for comment, defense counsel, Atty. Rony Garay, said that his clients, Admiral Isorena and Commodore Fabul, welcome the decision where the anti-graft court emphasized that the participation of Isorena and Fabul “in affixing their signature on seven (7) disbursement vouchers only proves their approval for the release of the cash advances.

The mere presence of their signatures therein does not amount to an act of splitting of payments of the amount indicated therein.

Considering that there exists no conspiracy among the accused  and that the alleged irregularities in approving the cash advances were not substantiated with sufficient proof, the signatures of accused Isorena, Caguioa, Fabul, and Esplana in the disbursement vouchers cannot be considered as a presumption of liability for conspiring with their co-accused in splitting the payments of the procurement project for cellular phone cards.”

Along with Admiral Isorena and Commodore Fabul, PCG Internal Auditor, Commander John Badong Esplana, and Accounting Head, Mr. Roger Caguioa, were also acquitted.