THE Sandiganbayan has ordered graft and malversation charges against former Pampanga Rep. Zenaida Ducut sent to the archives after her lawyers presented medical records showing that she is suffering from impaired cognitive abilities.
In its 21-page resolution dated June 14, 2022, the anti-graft court’s Seventh Division granted the defendant’s Motion for Suspension of Proceedings after a team of doctors declared Ducut “incompetent to stand trial.”
Ducut was named co-accused in one count each of graft and malversation charges filed by the Office of the Ombudsman in 2016 against Muntinlupa City Rep. Rozzano Rufino Biazon.
The indictment alleged that the defendants funneled P3 million from Biazon’s 2007 Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) allocations into Philippine Social Foundation, Inc. (PSFI), a dubious non-government organization (NGO) linked to businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles.
Aside from Ducut and Napoles, also named co-accused were PSFI president Evelyn de Leon, Budget undersecretary Mario Relampagos, Technology Resource Center (TRC) director generals Dennis Cunanan and Antonio Ortiz, and other DBM and TRC officers.
Prosecutors said Biazon received P1.95 million as commission while Ducut reportedly served as an agent between Napoles and the legislator.
Based on documents and testimonies presented in court, Ducut suffered a series of stroke in November 2019 and was admitted to a private hospital in Pampanga.
She was later diagnosed for mild dementia after several tests by specialists at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City.
Per court directive, confirmatory tests conducted by government doctors from the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) in 2020 and 2021 also reached a similar conclusion that she is “incompetent to stand trial.”
While the prosecution panel insisted that there was insufficient evidence to show that Ducut cannot comprehend the proceedings with assistance from her lawyers, it moved for a yearly medical evaluation on the defendant’s condition in the even that her motion is granted.
“Considering the parties’ respective arguments, and the evidence and witnesses presented in relation thereto, we resolve to grant accused Ducut’s motion for suspension of proceedings on the ground that her vascular dementia renders her incompetent to stand trial,” the Sandiganbayan declared.
The court stressed that the Bill of Rights guaranteed due process of law and an impartial trial for all persons accused.
“Putting a legally incompetent person on trial or convicting and sentencing him is a violation of this right to due process of law and fair trial,” the court added.
