By Czarina Nicole Ong
For the whole month of August, there were no new criminal cases against public officials filed before the Sandiganbayan by the Office of the Ombudsman.
(Credits: Pixabay | Manila Bulletin)
In the "Statistics of Cases Filed, Pending and Disposed of as of August 31, 2018" data sheet obtained from the anti-graft court, the number of cases filed last month totaled to just three appealed cases.
Ever since Ombudsman Samuel Martires assumed his position, he held back all charge sheets handled by his predecessor, former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales, and gave them a thorough review.
The last time criminal cases were raffled off by the seven Sandiganbayan divisions was on July 27.
From January to August 2018, the number of cases filed before the Sandiganbayan reached 564, therefore bringing up the court's caseload to 6,244.
So far, only 696 have been disposed of. In comparison, the total number of cases filed back in 2017 is 2,513. When the year ended, the court's caseload was at 6,771. From that number, 1,264 were disposed of.
For the month of August this year, 19 of the cases that were disposed are graft cases. Meanwhile, there were five falsification cases, four malversation cases, and two special civil action cases disposed of. There were one each for estafa and appealed cases. There were also five labeled under "others."