A SPECIAL division of the Sandiganbayan voted 3-2 to dismiss 22 criminal charges against incumbent Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo and two of his co-accused in a resolution issued on December 22, 2021.
The 11-page majority ruling was penned by Associate Justice Michael Frederick L. Musngi, with Associate Justices Maria Theresa V. Mendoza-Arcega and Lorifel Lacap Pahimna concurring.
Dissenting were Associate Justices Oscar C. Herrera Jr. and Bayani H. Jacinto.
The cases involved allegations of irregularities in the disbursement of P143.27 million for 11 public works contracts in 2012 that were allegedly made chargeable against the province’s Calamity Fund even if there was no official allocation made.
Prosecutors said Degamo went ahead with the awarding of contracts despite having been informed by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) that funding has been withdrawn due to the failure of the provincial government to comply with existing guidelines for infrastructure projects.
The projects were intended to rehabilitate damage sustained by government infrastructure in Negros Oriental from Typhoon Sendong and the 2011 earthquake.
In an earlier ruling, the anti-graft court denied motions filed by the defendants seeking leave of court to seek outright dismissal of the charges.
However, in their motion for reconsideration Degamo and his co-accused invoked double jeopardy, arguing that they have been acquitted by the Third Division of graft and malversation cases involving the same transactions and special allotment release orders from the DBM.
Provincial accountant Teodorico Reyes and provincial treasurer Danilo Mendez also raised similar issues in their own motions.
In dismissing the 22 cases, the Second Division held that similarities between the two sets of cases were evident, saying that irregular acts imputed in the cases pending before it are “necessarily included” in the ones already resolved by the Third Division.
“Based on the foregoing discussions, the instant cases against herein accused Degamo, Mendez, and Reyes should be dismissed on the ground of double jeopardy,” the majority declared.
In addition, private defendants Mark Anthony Clemente of CTC Builders and Supplies Inc., Farouk Macarambon of Fiat Construction Services, Maribel Ranola of Legazpi Premium Development Corp., Ricardo Santos of Richmark Construction and Supply, and Danny Chan of Ajan Jeada, Inc. were granted leave to seek dismissal of the cases against them through demurrers to evidence or a challenge to the sufficiency or the prosecution’s evidence.
