GOVERNMENT prosecutors have turned down an offer for stipulation from former Puerto Princesa City mayor Edward Hagedorn regarding the value of his declared assets based on his statements of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALNs) against his alleged undeclared properties.
In its resolution dated November 17, 2022, the Sandiganbayan upheld the prosecution’s right to refuse to stipulate on the ground that the objective to expedite the trial no longer holds as the government had already rested its case earlier.
“The prosecution has every right to reject and/ or refuse to admit the above-mentioned stipulations. At any rate, the said issues which may have been raised by the subject Request for Stipulations …can be best passed upon by the Court in its evaluation of the totality of the pieces of evidence,” the anti-graft court ruled.
Hagedorn was indicted in 2017 on nine counts each of perjury under Article 183 of the Revised Penal Code, Section 7 of RA 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and violation of Section 8 of RA 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees for alleged misrepresentations in his statements of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALNS) for 2004 to 2012.
Section 7 of R.A. No. 3019 and Section 8 of R.A. No. 6713 require the filing of a detailed SALN by every public official declaring a full list of assets, liabilities, and financial and business interests each year of their incumbency.
Perjury on the other hand involves a deliberate misrepresentation or false statement in a document required by law to be sworn before any public officer.
Prosecutors said Hagedorn’s SALNs did not declare his ownership of various real properties, motor vehicles, and corporate/business interests.
The Office of the Ombudsman said there were 59 properties not mentioned in Hagedorn’s SALNs, including agricultural and residential lands, as well as commercial buildings.
It also did not mention 49 motor vehicles, most of them motorcycles and a few cars including a BMW, a Volvo, and a three Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs); and interests in Palawan Jolly Foods Corporation, Puerto Princesa Broadcasting Corporation, Puerto Prince Bee Foods Corporation, Green Forest Blue Waters Corporation, Radiant Home Land Development, Inc., and Hagedorn Travel and Tours, Inc.
But in his request, the accused asked prosecutors to acknowledge that for the 2004 and 2005, the prosecution identified properties with a total value of P41.66 million while he declared real properties with a fair market value of P63 million for the same years.
In 2006, properties listed by prosecutors went up to P43.59 million and P48.24 million. In 2007 and 2008, Hagedorn’s SALNs for those three years disclosed real properties with an unmoving value of P63 million.
For 2009, 2010 and 2011, the prosecution tallied assets allegedly owned by the former mayor at P52.53 million, P60.8 million, and P860.91 million. In his SALNs, the accused declared assets between P11 million and P11.5 million.
In 2012, prosecutors said Hagedorn had real properties in Palawan totaling P74.97 million. In that year, the defendant declared P153.53 million in real properties.
For all nine years covered by the charges, the defense pointed out that the total value of properties identified by the prosecution were “less than the total fair market value of the properties declared” in the SALN of the accused.
Prosecutors said the proposed stipulations would only confuse the cases because the offer tends to suggest that the real properties covered by its marked exhibits were already covered by Hagedorn’s SALNs.
On the contrary, they said the real properties covered by titles and tax declarations they marked as exhibits have not been included in any of Hagedorn’s SALNs.
