Contractor appeals graft ruling
The private contractor charged with graft in connection with the anomalous construction of the P1.1
Jesusito Legaspi, in a motion for reconsideration, said the case against him should have been dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
Through his lawyers, Legaspi said the Sandiganbayan can only try cases against public officials and not private individuals.
Legaspi, president of JD Legaspi Construction, was charged along with former officials of the Public Estates Authority (PEA) and government auditors in connection with alleged overpricing of the PDMB project by over P630 million.
Legaspi said the Sandiganbayan committed grave abuse of discretion by declaring that the Supreme Court pronouncement in the case of Henry Go versus Sandiganbayan has not yet gained finality due to a pending appeal for a review by all of the Supreme Court justices, and therefore, not yet applicable to Legaspi.
“Unless it is overturned, the Henry Go case is binding on lower tribunals, and to disregard it with impunity would constitute grave error and unjustified disrespect of the current mind of the Highest Tribunal of the Land,” Legaspi’s lawyers said.
In the Henry Go case, the Supreme Court’s Special Third Division held that a private individual cannot be held criminally liable for violation of Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, as only subsections (b), (c), (d) and (k) apply against private persons.
“It logically follows that said provision exclusively applies to public officers, and never to private individuals like herein accused Legaspi. The same holds true even if individuals are charged with being in conspiracy with public officers,” Legaspi’s lawyers said. – Sandy Araneta
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