The Sandiganbayan has dismissed the three perjury charges filed against Mayor Rommel C. Maslog of Talisayan town in Misamis Oriental for lack of jurisdiction and violation of his right to speedy disposition of cases.

The first perjury charge was allegedly committed by Maslog when he was vice mayor in 2011, while the two other charges were reportedly committed when he was mayor in 2013 and 2014.

In the first case filed when Maslog was vice mayor, the Sandiganbayan said it has no jurisdiction because the case should have been filed before the regional trial court (RTC) which has concurrent jurisdiction for government officials with Salary Grade 26 and below. A town vice mayor at that time had a Salary Grade 25.

In the two cases when Maslog was mayor, the anti-graft court said that while it has jurisdiction over the cases, the charges should be dismissed for violation of right to speedy disposition of cases.

The court said there was indeed inordinate delay on the part of the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) when it found probable cause to charge Maslog "more than two years and nine months from the filing of the complaint."

"The Court finds that the accused's constitutional right to a speedy disposition of cases during the preliminary investigation of the said cases was violated," it ruled.

"In SB-23-CRM-0068, the Information (criminal charge sheet) is quashed for lack of jurisdiction over the offense charged, pursuant to Section 3(b), Rule 117 of the Rules of Criminal Procedure. In SB-23-CRM-0069 and SB-23-CRM-0070, the criminal cases are dismissed for violation of the accused's constitutional right to a speedy disposition of cases during preliminary investigation," it also ruled. 

In seeking the dismissal of the charges, Maslog told the anti-graft court that the criminal charge sheets do not allege any damage to the government or bribery. He also said that there was inordinate delay in handling his cases because the complaint was filed on Nov. 19, 2018 and the cases were filed before the Sandiganbayan on June 19.

He pointed out that the delay incurred by OMB prosecutors can be considered as "vexatious, inordinate, and inexcusable" since "the cases are not complex and the records not voluminous." He said he had suffered prejudice caused by such delay because he could not present his witness, Vivian C. Oraiz, who used to be his personal secretary before she retired on April 22, 2021 and moved to Canada in February 2023.

His plea was granted in the decision written by Associate Justice Maryann E. Corpus-Mañalac with the concurrence of Associate Justices Rafael R. Lagos and Maria Theresa V. Mendoza-Arcega.