The Sandiganbayan has dismissed the graft and malversation charges filed against Mexico, Pampanga Mayor Teddy Canlas Tumang and five others for violation of their right to speedy disposition of cases.
Tumang and his co-accused were charged with graft for alleged manifest partiality, evident bad faith, and gross inexcusable negligence in favor of Buyu Trading when they purchased base coarse materials from 2007 to 2008. They were also charged with malversation of public funds.
Invoking their right to speedy disposition of cases, they asked the Sandiganbayan to dismiss the charges against them.
In granting their plea, the Sandiganbayan’s fourth division said there was inordinate delay in the filing of the cases and the delay would impair the defense by the accused.
The court said that in SB-22-CRM-0152 to 0171, the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) filed a complaint against the accused on Aug. 8, 2018, while the informations (criminal charge sheets) were filed before the Sandiganbayan on July 8, 2022.
In SB-22-CRM-0174 to 0182, the OMB filed a complaint on Dec. 7, 2017 while it filed the informations on March 23, 2022, it said.
The court pointed out that the prosecution miserably failed to explain or justify the delay.
Even with the Covid-19 pandemic, the court said that the prosecution was unable to justify its "absolute and completely inability to function and perform its mandate of conducting preliminary investigation."
"While the Court may accept that operations within the OMB may have been hampered on certain occasions in compliance with strict health protocols, even conceding that the Office of the Ombudsman veritably reduced its manpower capacity restricting its ability to operate at full speed during the apex of the pandemic, the Court is not persuaded that the operations within the OMB were at a virtual standstill during the entire length of the period between March 2020 until October 2021," the court stressed.
Aside from the cases against Mayor Tumang, also dismissed were the charges against town officials Perlita T. Lagman, Marlon De Leon Maniacup, Lucila M. Agento, Jesus S. Punzalan, and Luz C. Bondoc.
"Given the unjustified passage of a long time in the conduct of the preliminary investigation and in view of the ensuing prejudice that such delay caused to the accused, their right to the speedy disposition of their cases was violated. Consequently, the complaints filed against them should be abated and dismissed," the Sandiganbayan’s fourth division ruled in a resolution written by Chairperson Michael Frederick L. Musngi. Associate Justices Lorifel L. Pahimna and Bayani H. Jacinto concurred.
TAGS: #Sandiganbayan #Mayor Tumang