By Czarina Nicole Ong
The scheduled arraignment of former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Nur Misuari that was supposedly scheduled today has been moved by the Sandiganbayan Third Division to November 23.
Nur Misuari (MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Misuari still has a pending motion to quash his two graft and two malversation through falsification charges since the irregular transactions he was being accused of took place during the term of his successor.
He was charged in connection with the reportedly anomalous purchase of different educational packages and materials from 2000 to 2001.
Misuari stated in his omnibus motion to dismiss that based on records obtained from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the payments for the irregular transactions were made during the term of Gov. Parouk Hussein from September 30, 2002 to September 30, 2005.
He added that there was no conspiracy between him and his co-accused, since he was in detention for more than six years since January 7, 2002 until his release in 2008 when he was finally granted bail.
Prior to his detention in the Philippines, he was illegally held in detention in Malaysia from December 2001 to January 2002.
Even when he was still governor, Misuari said his co-accused were not under his direct control. In fact, they worked directly under the regional Cabinet secretary of the ARMM Department of Education and Sports.
At the same time, the departmental documents pertaining to the subject transactions were not brought to Misuari for review. Instead, they were reviewed, signed and approved by the regional Cabinet secretary of the Regional Department.
Lastly, Misuari harped on the delay in the conduct of the preliminary investigation and the filing of the criminal charges against him before the Sandiganbayan. He said the cases were brought to the Ombudsman for investigation on November 6, 2013.
But even without conducting a preliminary investigation, the Ombudsman- Military and Other Law Enforcement Officers (MOLEO) filed the Information before the Sandiganbayan on May 5, 2017.