THE Supreme Court has granted the request of former Makati mayor Elenita Binay for a separate trial of the graft and malversation cases pending before the Sandiganbayan in connection with the allegedly anomalous purchase of hospital equipment in 2000 and 2001.
Binay, along with other city officials, are facing graft charges filed by the government in 2014 for the purchase of autoclave machines and dry heat sterilizers in the year 2000 and the purchase of P36.4 million worth of hospital beds and bedside cabinets in 2001.
Binay served as mayor of Makati City from 1998 until 2001.
In 2014, the Sandiganbayan proceeded to jointly hear the two cases, prompting Binay to ask the anti-graft court to re-raffle the cases and conduct separate trials on the ground that the consolidation of the cases, instead of simplifying the proceedings, would cause confusion because the cases involved different transactions, covered by different purchase orders and done on different occasions.
The Sandiganbayan denied the petition in January 2017.
In its resolution promulgated last June 14 but made public only recently, the Supreme Court agreed with Binay that the consolidation of the cases would result to the confusion of evidence.
The high court said a review of the court records reveal that there is a need for separate trials of the cases against the former Makati mayor.
“Individuals not charged in Criminal Case No. SB-11-CRM-0272-0273 would be confronted with evidence and allegations unrelated to their cases. The same goes for individuals who were charged only under Criminal Case No. SB-11-CRM-0274-0275,” the SC said.
Criminal Case No. SB-11-CRM-0272-0273 refers to the procurement of hospital beds and bedside cabinets, which happened in 2001, while Criminal Case No. SB-11-CRM-0274-0275 pertains to the supposedly improper bidding and irregular purchase of autoclave machines and dry heat sterilizers, which happened in 2000.
