THE Supreme Court has dismissed for lack of merit the petition of former Optical Media Board chair Ronald “Ronnie Ricketts” seeking the dismissal of graft raps against him over his alleged failure to file charges against those arrested for possession of pirated DVDs and VCDs during a raid in 2010 in an establishment in Quiapo, Manila.
The SC’s First Division also affirmed the resolutions of the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division dated October 12, 2017 and November 16, 2017 denying Ricketts’ motion for leave of court to file demurrer to evidence and motion for reconsideration, respectively.
A demurrer is a pleading the defense files to seek an outright dismissal based on the weakness of prosecution evidence. But to file a demurrer, a leave of court or permission shall be granted first. If the demurrer itself is granted by the court, then the case is over.
In dismissing the petition, the High Court ruled there was nothing in the petition validating Ricketts’ claim that the Sandiganbayan gravely abused its discretion or acted beyond its jurisdiction in denying his motion and the demurrer.
“There was also no showing that the Sandiganbayan’s finding on the sufficiency of the evidence of the prosecution was made without legal or evidentiary basis, or that the same was reached in a capricious or whimsical exercise of judgment that could warrant the issuance of the extraordinary writ of certiorari,” the SC said in the 14-page decision promulgated on November 18, 2021 but only made public yesterday.
The SC added that in questioning the sufficiency of the evidence against him, Ricketts raised alleged errors in judgments of the anti-graft court that are the subject of an appeal and not a certiorari.
“All told, the denial of petitioner’s motion for leave to file demurrer to evidence and the demurrer itself was made by the Sandiganbayan in the due exercise of its jurisdiction,” the SC said.
On May 27, 2010, upon Ricketts’ instructions, a team of OMB agents raided and seized 127 boxes and two sacks of pirated DVDs and VCDs as well as one video recording unit in an establishment on Carlos Palanca St. in Quiapo, Manila. Three Chinese were also arrested.
The confiscated materials were brought to the OMB office but later, and purportedly upon the instruction of Ricketts, 121 of the 127 boxes of the pirated materials were hauled out of the OMB premises and loaded into an Isuzu truck marked “Sky High Marketing.”
The SC said no charges were filed by the OMB against any person or entity after the operation.
On July 18, 2019, the Field Investigation Office of the Office of the Ombudsman filed a complaint before the anti-graft court against Ricketts and his co-accused for allegedly giving unwarranted benefit, advantage or preference to Sky High Marketing Corporation, thru “manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence,” by allowing and causing the release and reloading into the corporation’s vehicle the paraphernalia confiscated from the same establishment.
Ricketts’ co-accused are OMB Executive Director Cyrus Paul Valenzuela, head of Enforcement and Inspection Division Manuel Mangubat, investigation agent Joseph Arnaldo and computer operator Glenn Perez.
The Ombudsman said these comprised the pieces of evidence that could support the case that should have been filed by the OMB. By not filing the appropriate charges, the SC said Ricketts caused damage and prejudice to the government.
