THE Sandiganbayan Seventh Division has refused to consider the merits of the legal challenge mounted by former Department of Budget and Management (DBM) undersecretary Mario Relampagos against the criminal charges filed against him by the Office of the Ombudsman on the ground that he remains a fugitive from justice.
In a resolution dated February 16 but released only last week, the anti-graft court denied Relampagos’ motion for reconsideration assailing the denial of his demurrer to evidence.
The former budget official is facing charges of graft and malversation of public funds as a co-accused of former Muntinlupa City congressman and now mayor Ruffy Biazon in connection with the alleged irregular release of P3 million from the lawmaker’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) in 2007.
Prosecutors said the DBM official and his staff acted with undue haste in processing and approving the release of special allotment release order (SARO) and notice of cash allowance (NCA) which facilitated the transfer of Biazon’s PDAF allocations to the Technology Resource Center (TRC).
In turn, they said it was the TRC which transferred the public funds to the Philippine Social Development Foundation Inc. (PSDFI), a bogus non-government organization (NGO) allegedly created by businesswoman and co-defendant Janet Napoles.
Relampagos said the case against him has no basis since it was not even his office but the Regional Operations Coordinating Services (ROCS) that processed the SARO.
This was basically the same argument raised by his staff in securing their acquittal in another batch of PDAF cases also pending before the Seventh Division against former Mindoro Oriental Rep. Rodolfo Valencia.
Just as it ruled in the said cases, however, the anti-graft court said Relampagos has no legal standing since he jumped bail in 2017 after he was granted leave for an official travel to the United States.
In notifying his lawyers of his decision to go into hiding, Relampagos declared that he has “lost all trust in the justice system.”
He added that he has already exhausted his family’s financial resources on bail bonds and lawyers’ fees so he will not be thrown in jail.
The court, however, held firm that jurisprudence bars it from giving due course to Relampagos’ motion unless he turns himself in and places himself once more under its jurisdiction.
“The Supreme Court already ruled that fugitives from justice lose their standing in court when they abscond and that they are not entitled to judicial relief. Thus, unless Relampagos surrenders and faces this criminal proceeding, he is deemed to have waived his right to seek judicial relief, including a demurrer to evidence,” the Sandiganbayan said.
