Sandigan: Strong evidence vs ex-Quirino governor

MANILA, Philippines — Former Quirino governor Pedro Bacani may be convicted of graft over his alleged involvement in the 2004 fertilizer fund scam, according to the Sandiganbayan.

“The evidence presented by the prosecution, testimonial and documentary, appear to be prima facie sufficient for conviction of... Bacani unless successfully rebutted by defense evidence,” a resolution of the anti-graft court’s second division read.

The court denied Bacani’s motion for leave to file a demurrer, which would have allowed him to seek the dismissal of his cases without presenting his counter-evidence.

A demurrer seeks the dismissal of a case halfway through the trial based on the supposed weakness of evidence of the prosecution.

The court said the prosecution presented key witnesses, including those from the Commission on Audit, who conducted an investigation into the fertilizer scam. 

Noel Martinez, former provincial general services officer, who was privy in the questioned transaction, was among the prosecution witnesses.

Bacani was charged with two counts of graft in connection with the provincial government’s purchase of microbial inoculant soil activator amounting to P4.99 million as part of the implementation of the Farm Inputs and Farm Implements Program of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

The ombudsman said the fertilizer was purchased from Akame Marketing without public bidding in violation of the Government Procurement Reform Act.

Bacani had earlier filed a motion to dismiss the cases, saying no unwarranted benefit or preference was given to Akame. He said the firm was the sole distributor of the fertilizer in the country.

The DA identified the brand of the fertilizer for the project, he added.

However, the second division said Bacani’s argument was “evidentiary in nature and a matter of defense that may be passed upon after a full blown trial.”