The Sandiganbayan has denied the motion of Jesus B. Cantos, former vice president of the logistics and supply chain of the state-run Philippine International Trading Corporation (PITC), to defer the proceedings in his criminal case due to, among others, the dismissal of his administrative case involving the same issue.
With the denial of his motion, Cantos' arraignment has been scheduled on March 10 at 8:30 a.m.
Cantos is one of the former PITC officials charged with violation of Section 3(e) of Republic Act No. 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, due to the procurement of branded medicines which were allegedly overpriced by P19,697,775.
He was charged together with former chief operating officer Teddie Elson E. Rivera, vice president for finance Jacqueline C. Mendoza, logistics and procurement manager Elvira C. Aspa, and legal manager Krisanto Karo E. Nicolas. They reportedly gave undue advantage to Biolink Pharma, Medgen Laboratories, and Alphamed Pharma, Inc. by procuring the alleged overpriced medicines from May 7 to 24, 2007.
The prosecution claimed that they resorted to direct contracting and even violated Section 50 of Republic Act No. 9184, the law on Modernization, Standardization and Regulation of the Procurement Activities of the Government, when they allegedly chose branded medicines instead of purchasing their generic counterparts.
In a motion dated filed last Jan. 3, Cantos sought to have the proceedings suspended as he argued that he was deprived of due process. He claimed that the charge against him was "defective" since the narration of facts does not support the finding of probable cause.
At the same time, he said the criminal case has the same set of facts as the administrative complaint. He pointed out that the Office of the Ombudsman did not find any substantial evidence to make him liable for an administrative offense, so the same should be applied to his criminal case.
But the Sandiganbayan disagreed. "It is a fundamental principle of administrative law that administrative cases are independent from criminal actions for the same act or omission. Thus, an absolution from a criminal charge is not a bar to an administrative prosecution, or vice versa,” it stressed.
Also, the court found that the prosecution was successful in establishing all the essential elements of graft in Cantos' criminal charge. "Based on the record of this case, the Court reiterates the existence of probable cause against accused Cantos," the resolution stressed.
The resolution was written by Presiding Justice Amparo M. Cabotaje-Tang with the concurrence of Associate Justices Bernelito R. Fernandez and Ronald B. Moreno.