BASED on doctors’ testimonies that vascular dementia is irreversible, progressive, and has no known cure, the Sandiganbayan has turned down a motion by government prosecutors seeking the revival of archived graft and malversation cases filed against former Pampanga Rep. Zenaida Ducut.
The Sandiganbayan Seventh Division held that given her condition, the former lawmaker remains unfit to undergo trial on the charges relative to alleged involvement in the unlawful transfer of P3 million public funds into a dubious private foundation linked to businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles.
“Given the current state of accused Ducut’s mental problem, she is still unable to intelligently participate and defend herself from the charges she is facing. Consequently, the charges against her must remain archived,” the court declared.
A series of mental state examinations conducted by medical officers of the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) from February 2020 to August 2023 showed Ducut scoring only 21 out of 30 on the first one and 20/30 on the last two. The normal score is 24 and above.
A score of 23 is considered a mild case of dementia; 19 to 13 is moderate; and below 13 is severe.
In Ducut’s state, the doctors said she would occasionally recall things yet forget or be unable to recognize names, faces, and other details at other times.
While medication is given to the patient, the attending physicians said this can only control the progression of vascular dementia but does not restore complete functionality.
The Sandiganbayan, in a resolution issued June 14, 2022, ordered the cases against Ducut archived after it deemed the accused 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 the Philippine Social Foundation, Inc. (PSFI).
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 a commission while Ducut reportedly served as an agent between Napoles and the legislator.
Ducut suffered a stroke in November 2019 and was admitted to a private hospital in Pampanga.
The NCMH doctors said the incident caused brain damage resulting in progressive deterioration of her brain.
“Considering the above, we find that accused Ducut’s condition has not improved from the time she was first found to be incompetent to stand trial,” the court said. – Reuters
