By Czarina Nicole Ong
Former cop and Asian Gaming Service Providers Association, Inc. (AGSPA) President Wenceslao Sombrero Jr. is urging the Supreme Court to resolve his application for a temporary restraining order (TRO) in relation to his plunder case before the Sandiganbayan Sixth Division.
Retired police general Wenceslao “Wally” Sombero
(Manila Bulletin File Photo)
Sombero was charged with plunder due to the reported extortion of P50 million from 1,316 arrested Chinese nationals who were violating Philippine immigration laws back in 2016.
In his urgent motion, Sombero said that the Sandiganbayan needs to be "immediately restrained"; otherwise, it will proceed with the trial on the merits harboring "egregious misconceptions" about his case.
For one thing, Sombero said that the Sandiganbayan has misconceptions about his alleged "participation" in the scheme to commit plunder. He added that the meaning of "main plunderer" has not been clearly defined, as well as the "series" of overt acts defined under Section 1(d) of R.A. 7080, otherwise known as the plunder law.
"Unless restrained, the Sandiganbayan can very well compound its patently erroneous decision to deny petitioner bail with an equally patently erroneous decision to convict petitioner of plunder," his motion read.
Sombero was also slapped with violations of Section 3(e) of R.A. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, Article 210 of the Revised Penal Code or Bribery, and P.D. 46, which prohibits the giving gifts to public employees.
He is facing these charges together with former Bureau of Immigration (BI) Deputy Commissioners Al Argosino and Michael Robles.