Ombuds may petition graft case dismissal

CEBU, Philippines - Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Pelagio Apostol said they may file a petition for certiorari before the Supreme Court to determine if there was grave abuse of authority on the part of the Sandiganbayan in dismissing the anti-graft case filed against officials involved in the controversial lampposts used for the 12th ASEAN Summit held in Cebu in 2005.

Apostol said he was saddened by the decision of the Sandiganbayan Special 5th Division dismissing the anti-graft case as they have all the evidence to support their case.

“When we filed the case, we see to it we have all the evidence.  We don’t file case without evidence at all,” he said.

He said there were seven charge sheets filed but only four were returned to them for reinvestigation. The remaining three that include the dismissal of the anti-graft case were in the Sandiganbayan. 

Apostol said the problem may be with the Office of the Special Prosecutor as they have all the necessary evidence.

However, he said maybe at some point the Sandiganbayan was right in dismissing the case due to lack of evidence or the Office of the Special Prosecutor failed to present the evidence in court.

Apostol said if they had been told that the evidence supporting the anti-graft was insufficient they could have been able to rehabilitate it.

Cleared for anti-graft case were Rep. Arturo Radaza, who was then the Lapu-Lapu City Mayor; then DPWH legal officer Agustinito Hermoso; former DPWH-7 regional director Robert Lala; DPWH-7 assistant regional directors Marlina Alvizo and Gloria Dindin; and division heads Luis Galang, Restituto Diano, Buenaventura Pajo and Pureza Fernandez, Lapu-Lapu City engineer Julito Cuizon and assistant engineers Rogelio Veloso and Fernando Tagaan Jr. and Isabelo Braza, the president and chairman of Fabmik Construction and Equipment Supply Co. Inc.

Apostol said out of 98 cases filed before the Sandiganbayan, only seven cases were dismissed.

Meanwhile, Radaza was thankful that the case filed against him and the other DPWH and Lapu-Lapu City officials has been dismissed.

“At last the Court heard us when we questioned the conduct of the probe in 2007, at the height of a midterm election, because we were deprived of our legal rights to answer the complaints,” Radaza said in a press statement.

“The Visayas Ombudsman’s refusal to provide us with the entire copy of their findings has exposed the haphazard conduct of the probe and with the Sandiganbayan now saying that the complainant has not established probable cause,” Radaza added.

The dismissed case was the result of an investigation conducted by the Ombudsman-Visayas on the installation of lampposts used for the 12th ASEAN Summit in 2005. They were charged for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

It was Associate Justice Napoleon Inoturan of the Special 5th Division of the Sandiganbayan, who issued and promulgated the resolution last January 16.

In 2009, Radaza was cleared of one case filed against him over the same issue but still has a case pending in the Supreme Court also regarding the same controversy.

“I am very thankful to the Lord for justice has been served. I always believe that in the end the truth will prevail,” Radaza said.  (FREEMAN)