THE Sandiganbayan has declared that there should be a full-blown trial in the criminal case against Dominico Borja, a former executive of the Herdis Management and Investment Corp. who was accused of “persuading, inducing or influencing” former President Ferdinand E. Marcos to commit corruption.

A five-page resolution by the anti-graft court’s Fourth Division dated September 16, 2024 denied Borja’s motion for reconsideration in which he insisted that the case should be quashed outright.

“Issued raised by the accused are evidentiary in nature and are matters of defense, the truth of which can best be passed upon after a full-blown trial on the merits,” it pointed out.

The court overruled the defendant’s arguments that the crime had already been extinguished by prescription and that the information should be thrown out due to inordinate delay in the investigation of the Office of the Ombudsman.

It noted that these were the exact same grounds raised by the accused in his earlier motion to quash that was already denied.

“The Court finds no new argument was raised by accused Borja in his motion, and that the matter has already been judiciously passed upon by the Court. There being now new matters or issues to warrant the reversal of the resolution, the Motion for Reconsideration must be denied,” the Sandiganbayan said.

The Office of the Ombudsman filed the case in 2013 alleging that Herdis officials induced Marcos to accept four billion shares of The Energy Corporation (TEC) and two and a half billion shares of Vulcan Industrial and Mining Corporation (VIMC) in March 1982 despite knowing that the Chief Executive was barred by law from having financial interests in the said firms.

Originally named co-defendants were the late businessman Herminio Disini, his cousin Jesus Disini, and Herdis officers Angelo Manahan, Jerry Orlina, Alfredo Velayo, and Borja.

Herminio Disini passed away in 2014 while the case against Jesus Disini was dismissed by the court on the strength of his immunity agreement with the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) signed on February 16, 1989 in exchange for cooperating with the government investigation into irregularities attending the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) deal with US contractors Westinghouse and Burns and Roe.

Unable to trace the whereabouts of the other accused, the Sandiganbayan ordered the case archived in March 2019 but issued alias warrants of arrest against the remaining defendants.

On May 17, 2024, the court finally acquired jurisdiction over Borja after he was arrested by officers of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) upon arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3.

Now 75 years old, Borja said he can no longer put up an adequate defense since documents pertaining to the questioned transaction as well as potential witnesses may no longer be found.

The prosecution countered that the government became aware of the crime only in 1986 after the EDSA Revolution following the discovery in Malacañang of the March 11, 1982 letter of Herminio Disini to Marcos regarding the turnover of the TEC shares worth P40 million and Vulcan Mining shares worth P25 million.