The Sandiganbayan has acquitted former postmaster general Maria Josefina Mendoza Dela Cruz in each of her two graft and two unlawful appointment charges involving the same employee of the Philippine Postal Corporation (PhilPost) in 2011 and 2013.

Dela Cruz was charged in the appointment of Esther V. Cabigao as a director in 2011. Cabigao was reappointed by Dela Cruz in 2013 even in the absence of the former's master's degree required of the position at Philpost.

Dela Cruz filed a demurrer to evidence -- a pleading that challenges the weakness of the evidence of the prosecution to sustain a conviction.

After reviewing the demurrer in relation to the evidence, the Sandiganbayan found there was insufficient evidence to warrant a judgment of conviction in the charges involving Cabigao's appointment in 2011.

The court said it found weakness in the evidence presented to prove that Dela Cruz was aware of the deficiencies in the appointee's qualifications for the position of Director III at the time of the appointment.

In the 2011 appointment, the court found that in the graft charge the prosecution failed to establish manifest partiality, evident bad faith, or gross inexcusable negligence.

However, the anti-graft court found sufficient evidence to establish prima facie evidence of guilty in the other graft and unlawful appointment charges in the 2013 appointment of Cabigao.

"Accordingly, the trial for those cases should proceed and, consistent with due process and the rules, allow the accused to present countervailing evidence," the court's resolution stated.

Associate Justice Maryann E. Corpus-Mañalac wrote the 22-page resolution with the concurrence of Fifth Division Chairperson Associate Justice Rafael R. Lagos and Associate Justice Maria Theresa V. Mendoza-Arcega.