Sandiganbayan clears Ifugao lawmaker of graft charges
Published Apr 21, 2018 03:22 pm
By Czarina Nicole Ong
The Sandiganbayan Fifth Division has cleared Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat Jr. of his graft charges as it granted his motion to dismiss due to the Office of the Ombudsman's delay in the conduct of the preliminary investigation against him.
(MANILA BULLETIN)
He was earlier slapped with violations of Section 3(e) and (g) of Republic Act 3019, also known as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, for conspiring with private individual Jose Man Singh when he was still the governor of Ifugao.
Baguilat reportedly gave Singh unwarranted benefits when he entered into a contract with him for the purchase of a secondhand Isuzu Wagon Trooper worth P900,000 back in March 2003 without the conduct of a competitive public bidding.
But in his motion to dismiss, Baguilat cited his right to speedy disposition of cases. He stated that the complaint against him was filed before the Office of the Ombudsman on September 24, 2009. After more than three years have passed without any resolution from the Ombudsman, Baguilat filed a motion to dismiss with prayer for immediate resolution on November 19, 2013.
He requested for an update on April 14, 2015, since he felt the complaint has been dragging too long. The Ombudsman only issued a resolution on January 11, 2016 finding probable cause to charge him with graft, and it was approved only on April 10, 2017. The cases reached the Sandiganbayan only on February 9, 2018.
The prosecution defended itself by saying that there was no vexatious or oppressive delay in the handling of the case, and what transpired was a "reasonable period of time."
The prosecution further added that they did not want to be hasty in handling Baguilat's case, and they cited the "flexible concept of speedy disposition."
Unfortunately for the prosecution, the anti-graft court found their argument "fatally without merit."
"Simply put, there appears to be no justifiable basis as to why the Ombudsman could not have earlier resolved these cases against the accused," the resolution read.
The six-page resolution was penned by Associate Justice Maryann Corpuz-Mañalac and concurred by Associate Justices Rafael Lagos and Maria Theresa Mendoza-Arcega.
(MANILA BULLETIN)
He was earlier slapped with violations of Section 3(e) and (g) of Republic Act 3019, also known as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, for conspiring with private individual Jose Man Singh when he was still the governor of Ifugao.
Baguilat reportedly gave Singh unwarranted benefits when he entered into a contract with him for the purchase of a secondhand Isuzu Wagon Trooper worth P900,000 back in March 2003 without the conduct of a competitive public bidding.
But in his motion to dismiss, Baguilat cited his right to speedy disposition of cases. He stated that the complaint against him was filed before the Office of the Ombudsman on September 24, 2009. After more than three years have passed without any resolution from the Ombudsman, Baguilat filed a motion to dismiss with prayer for immediate resolution on November 19, 2013.
He requested for an update on April 14, 2015, since he felt the complaint has been dragging too long. The Ombudsman only issued a resolution on January 11, 2016 finding probable cause to charge him with graft, and it was approved only on April 10, 2017. The cases reached the Sandiganbayan only on February 9, 2018.
The prosecution defended itself by saying that there was no vexatious or oppressive delay in the handling of the case, and what transpired was a "reasonable period of time."
The prosecution further added that they did not want to be hasty in handling Baguilat's case, and they cited the "flexible concept of speedy disposition."
Unfortunately for the prosecution, the anti-graft court found their argument "fatally without merit."
"Simply put, there appears to be no justifiable basis as to why the Ombudsman could not have earlier resolved these cases against the accused," the resolution read.
The six-page resolution was penned by Associate Justice Maryann Corpuz-Mañalac and concurred by Associate Justices Rafael Lagos and Maria Theresa Mendoza-Arcega.