THE Supreme Court has upheld a Sandiganbayan ruling allowing former Masbate 3rd District Rep. Rizalina Seachon-Lanete and Janet Lim Napoles to post bail in their plunder cases in connection with the controversial pork barrel scam.
In a resolution promulgated on October 11, 2023 but only made public yesterday, the High Court denied the petition by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) of the Office of the Ombudsman seeking the reversal of the resolutions dated April 12, 2016 and February 13, 2017 issued by the anti-graft court’s Fourth Division which granted the applications for bail of Lanete and Napoles.
In denying the OSP-Ombudsman’s petition, the High Court said the Sandiganbayan did not abuse its discretion in allowing Lanete and Napoles to post P500,000 bail each since the OSP-Ombudsman did not sufficiently establish that the supposedly plundered amount exceeded the P50 million threshold for plunder cases.
The SC said the OSP, for the purpose of the bail hearings, failed to present evidence to show that the threshold amount of P50 million was reached.
“Failure to reach the said amount is fatal because it is a crucial element in the crime of plunder. Any proof that there was an accumulation of ill-gotten wealth, but in an amount less than P50,000,000.00, means that the accused committed a crime other than the crime of lunder,” the SC ruled.
“It was not clearly shown that the total amount allegedly amassed by accused Lanete from her PDAF allocation for the years 2007-2010 reached the threshold of P50 milliom for the crime of plunder,” it also said.
“The Court concludes that the OSP failed to prove that there exist evident guilt or a presumption of guilt that would warrant the denial of Napoles’ and Lanete’s right to bail,” part of the SC’s 22-page resolution said.
“As such,the Court finds that the Sandiganbayan did not commit any grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of jurisdiction in issuing the assailed resolutions. The grant of Napoles’ and Lanete’s applications for bail stands,” it added.
Lanete has posted bail after the anti-graft court’s ruling.
However, regardless of the Sandiganbayan ruling that granted her bail request, Napoles has remained behind bars due to her conviction for plunder in 2018 for which she was meted reclusion perpetua, which is equivalent to a maximum of 40 years imprisonment.
She is also serving jail terms for multiple convictions on graft, malversation of public funds, corruption of public official, and bribery by different divisions of the anti-graft court.
In the assailed resolution, the Sandiganbayan said the OSP failed to provide proof of any personal dealings between Napoles and Lanete and that the latter personally received any kickbacks from the latter.
The OSP has argued that the Sandiganbayan erred in issuing the resolution as it misappreciated the facts and evidence showing that Lanete’s and Napoles’ guilt are strong.
