THE Sandiganbayan Fifth Division has junked a graft charge filed by the Office of the Ombudsman against former Olongapo City mayor now Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) chairman and administrator Rolen Paulino, incumbent vice mayor Aquilino Cortez Jr. and 14 other city officials.
In a 19-page resolution penned by Associate Justice Maria Theresa V. Mendoza-Arcega, the anti-graft court declared that there was inordinate delay in the investigation and eventual filing of the case against the defendants.
Associate Justices Rafael R. Lagos and Maryann E. Corpus-Mañalac concurred.
The court noted that the prosecution failed to cite any justifiable reason why the information was only filed on March 18, 2022 when the Ombudsman made a finding of probable cause way back February 8, 2018.
“Certainly, the length of delay of more than four years in completing the present information and the failure of the prosecution to present justifiable reasons of such delay, this Court rules that… accused’s right to speedy disposition of cases had been violated. Thus, the present case should be dismissed,” the Sandiganbayan said.
Other than Paulino and Cortez, also benefited by the dismissal of the case were then city councilors Elena Dabu, Benjamin Cajudo II, Eduardo Guerrero, Noel Atienza, Alrueula Bundang-Ortiz, Edna Elane, Emerito Bacay, Randy Siozon, and Egmidio Gonzales Jr. as well as Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC) officials Tony-Kar Balde III, Cristiflor Buduhan, Anna Marin Sison, Mamerto Malabute, and Joy Cahilig.
The case stemmed from an allegation that accused city officials acted with undue haste in approving the lease contract with SM Prime Holdings Inc. (SMPHI) over the Olongapo City Civic Center on October 31, 2014, thereby giving the latter unwarranted benefit, advantage, or preference.
Prosecutors said defendants failed to observe the required 60-days from publication of the invitation to bid before the issuance of the notice of award.
Specifically, the deal entails the construction of a mall, a 200-room hotel, structures for business process outsourcing (BPO) offices, parking buildings and parking slots, and a public transport terminal.
The original case was filed on March 8, 2019 but was thrown out by the Sandiganbayan Seventh Division on July 26, 2018 due to a fatal defect in the information by failing to allege that the lease agreement was covered by the build-operate-and-transfer law or RA 6957 as amended by RA 7718 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR).
While affirming that the prosecution violated no rule in refiling the case under the same set of allegations but correcting the previous defect, the Sandiganbayan questioned why it took the Ombudsman more than two years to do so.
