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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Pampanga ex-Rep Ducut not yet fit to stand trial on graft, bribery charges -- Sandiganbayan

Pampanga ex-Rep Ducut not yet fit to stand trial on graft, bribery charges -- Sandiganbayan

Published Dec 2, 2023 02:14 am

The Sandiganbayan has ruled that former Pampanga congresswoman Zenaida G. Cruz-Ducut is not yet mentally fit to undergo court proceedings despite the prosecution’s insistence that she can now stand trial.

In a resolution, the anti-graft court said that Ducut still has “impaired cognitive abilities.”

Ducut, who was also an Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) chairperson, suffered a series of strokes and was admitted to different hospitals in 2019, and her doctors concluded that her condition is "suggestive of mild dementia, probable vascular dementia."

She is co-accused of then Muntinlupa Rep. Ruffy B. Biazon on graft, malversation of public funds, and direct bribery in the alleged misuse of the latter’s P3 million Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) in 2007.

The court proceedings on Ducut’s case were suspended by the Sandiganbayan in June 2022 on account of her illness.

Prosecutors of the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) on Oct. 27, 2023 asked the Sandiganbayan to revive the criminal cases against Ducut. They told the court that Ducut failed to sufficiently substantiate that she is not coherent enough to provide her counsel with the necessary information to construct her defense and that she is unable to comprehend the significance of the trial.

"Ducut is perceptive, can comprehend, is responsive to the questions propounded to her and can intelligently answer the same questions propounded to her," the prosecution said citing a medical record updated from the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH).

But the Sandiganbayan disagreed with the prosecution.  The court highlighted the 2023 medical report of the NCMH doctor who said that Ducut's condition has not improved from the time the cases against her were ordered archived.

The court also said based on the updated report: “Ducut could not do things that involves sequences, or complexities. While Ducut fully grasped some questions, she got confused with some and could find the word for what she wanted to say. Ducut also had difficulty remembering questions. With her impaired memory, she was not able to provide complete details about her personal information."

Thus, the court said that Ducut may not have a full understanding and comprehension of the criminal proceeding she is facing for her to be able to intelligently participate and defend herself.

It also said: "Given the current state of accused Ducut's mental problem, she is still unable to intelligently participate and defend herself from the charges she is facing. Consequently, the charges against her must remain archived. However, this imposes a continuing obligation on the part of accused Ducut and her counsel to update this court of her medical condition at every instance she takes the necessary tests related to her medical condition."

The 15-page resolution issued last Nov. 23 was written by Associate Justice Zaldy V. Trespeses with the concurrence of Seventh Division Chairperson Associate Justice Ma. Theresa Dolores C. Gomez-Estoesta and Associate Justice Edgardo M. Caldona.

 

 

 

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