THE Supreme Court has reiterated its decision banning former Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay Jr. from running or holding any position in the government in connection with the unlawful purchase of the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) when he was still its acting chair of more than 440,000 shares of Express Savings Bank Incorporated (ESBI) worth P780 million.
The justices, during their en ban session in Baguio City where they are holding their annual summer sessions, said their decision was final and executory.
Pichay’s political rival Mary Elizabeth Ortiga-Ty has asked the High Court to declare as immediately executory the accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification imposed on Pichay.
However, the SC said the petition is already moot and academic.
“This is by reason of the finality of the Court’s Resolution, dated November 11, 2021, which affirmed the decision of the Office of the Ombudsman finding, among others, Pichay Jr. liable under Section 52-A, Rule IV of the Uniform Rules on Administrative Cases in the Civil Service, and imposing upon him the penalty of dismissal and the accessory penalties of forfeiture of all benefits, except leave credits, and perpetual disqualification to hold any public office,” a media briefer provided by the SC Public Information Office said.
The decision was penned by Associate Justice Maria Filomena Singh.
In its original ruling, the High Court said that aside from the lack of approval from the Monetary Board, the LWUA’s purchase of the ESBI shares also violated Section 15 of the General Appropriations Act which prevented the use of government funds as investments or deposits to any private banking institution.
The purchase of the 445,337 ESBI shares, which equates to LWUA’s 60 percent voting stock, amounted to P80 million.
Likewise, the SC said then that it found out that ESBI was under rehabilitation of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas after it suffered losses amounting to P87 million from 2005 to 2009, thereby making LWUAs investment totaling P780 million disadvantageous to the agency.
“Ultimately, the absence of the requisite Monetary Board approval resulted in losses on the part of the government in the total amount of P780 million. This amount could have been used for other endeavors to help local water utilities,” the SC said in its original ruling.
In August 2022, the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division also upheld its sentence sending Pichay to 10 years in jail for each of the three counts of graft charges slapped against him, and perpetually disqualifying him from public office.
