THE Sandiganbayan has sentenced former Cagayan de Oro mayor Constantino Jaraula and four others to six to 10 years in prison for graft related to the misuse of fertilizer funds during the Arroyo administration.
Jaraula, who was a Cagayan de Oro congressman at the time, has also been barred for life from holding any government position, according to a 77-page ruling signed on Monday (July 8) by Associate Justices Arthur Malabaguio, Geraldine Faith Econg, and Edgardo Caldona of the Sandiganbayan's 2nd Division.
This ruling marks Jaraula’s second conviction. Three years ago, he and alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles have been convicted of graft and malversation. Jaraula was also found guilty of three counts of direct bribery.
In a 103-page decision penned by Associate Justice Edgardo Caldona in 2021, the Sandiganbayan found Napoles and Jaraula guilty of embezzling at least P20.8 million.
Jaraula previously told Gold Star Daily he was uninvolved in releasing the Special Allotment Release Order (Saro) to the Technological Resource Center and the Countrywide Agri and Rural Economic Development Foundation Inc., allegedly operated by Napoles.
“I only dealt with the speaker of the House and the appropriations committee. I did not even know Napoles and Benhur Luy,” Jaraula was quoted as saying in a February 5, 2021 report of this paper.
He claimed he was in the final months of his term in the 13th Congress when House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. informed him that P30 million was available for countryside development. Jaraula intended to use the funds to buy solar dryers, water pumps, and farm fertilizers for Cagayan de Oro.
“I did not know that the TRC assigned the Saro to CARED of Napoles,” he said.
Jaraula denied allegations from whistleblower Benhur Luy that he had known Napoles since 2002 and had engaged with her regarding his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) transactions. Luy alleged that money had been handed to Jaraula on the ground floor of a building owned by Napoles in Manila.
