The Sandiganbayan has sentenced a former president of the state-owned National Agribusiness Corp. to up to eight years in prison for alleged unlawful payment of P4.797 million to a financial consultant in 2012.c
MANILA-The Sandiganbayan anti-graft court has convicted the former president of the National Agribusiness Corporation (Nabcor) for an anomalous PHP10-million contract in 2012 to engage the services of a financial advisor in connection with its outstanding debts amounting to PHP1.67 billion. In a 42-page decision dated March 25 written by Associate Justice Rafael R. Lagos, the anti-graft court's Fifth Division sentenced Honesto Baniqued to up to 8 years imprisonment and ordered him to indemnify the Department of Agriculture (DA) PHP4.78 million. Nabcor is a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) under the DA and served as its trading and marketing support until it was abolished in 2013. Baniqued had approved the payment of PHP4.79 million to lawyer Rodolfo V. Romero representing the initial payment and remuneration as financial contract for Romero to act as counsel to negotiate a debt restructuring plan (DRP) with the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) in relation