THE Sandiganbayan has thrown out the latest bid of former Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) chairman Camilo Sabio for release from detention and for the reversal of his conviction on a graft charge.
In resolution dated August 10, 2020, the Fourth Division denied Sabio’s supplemental motion for being a prohibited pleading which the court need not act on.
It stressed that the November 29, 2019 decision that convicted him of graft and sentenced him to six years imprisonment is now final because he failed to file a valid appeal within the reglementary period.
Associate Justice Lorifel Lacap Pahimna penned the resolution concurred in by Associate Justices Alex L. Quiroz and Bayani H. Jacinto.
Sabio was pronounced guilty of one count of violation of Section 3 (a) of RA 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for calling his brother, late Court of Appeals Justice Jose Sabio, in an attempt to influence the latter in connection with a pending case.
Case records showed the ex-PCGG chief received a phone call from Atty. Jesus Santos, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), on May 30, 2008.
Santos told Sabio that a case filed by the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) against the GSIS landed in the division chaired by his brother Justice Sabio.
By his own admission, the PCGG chairman said Santos asked for help in the case.
Chairman Sabio also admitted that, over the phone, he tried to convince his brother “of the rightness of the stand of the GSIS” and requested the latter to help the government pension fund.
Justice Sabio and two other members of the CA Division eventually ruled against the GSIS, disregarding the wishes of his brother.
The CA justice died on April 18, 2012, four years before the Office of the Ombudsman came out with a finding of probable cause against his brother.
According to the Sandiganbayan the defendant had until December 16, 2019 to file an appeal but he failed to do so, prompting the court to declare the decision of conviction “final and executory.”
He was arrested by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation at his home in Quezon City last June 25. He remains detained at the NBI Detention Center although the Sandiganbayan has issued a commitment order for his transfer to the New Bilibid Prisons.
In his latest motion filed June 19, 2020, Sabio assailed the court ruling on the ground that the criminal action was invalid; that his action did not constitute a criminal offense; that the court failed to consider his advanced age as a mitigating circumstance in his favor when it imposed the penalty; and that he should not be detained for humanitarian and medical reasons.
