Finally after second try, the Sandiganbayan granted the pleas of former mayor Teddy C. Tumang of Mexico town in Pampanga and his six other co-accused to dismiss the graft charges filed against them for violation of their right to speedy disposition of cases.
After their motion to dismiss was denied, they filed a motion for reconsideration which was granted by the anti-graft court.
"The Court sees it fit to correct its previous ruling, and hold that the accused-movants indeed timely asserted their rights because they filed their Motion to Quash at the earliest opportunity, i.e., prior to the accused's arraignment," the court said.
"Verily, this shows that accused did not sleep on their rights, and were ready to assert the same under the circumstances. Thus, their actions could not be construed as acquiescence to the delay," it added.
The resolution was written by Associate Justice Maria Theresa V. Mendoza-Arcega with the concurrence of Associate Justices Rafael R. Lagos and Maryann E. Corpus-Manalac.
Aside from Tumang's cases, also ordered dismissed were those those filed against Municipal Planning and Development Coordinator Marlon L. Maniacup, Municipal Budget Officer Lucila M. Agento, Municipal Engineer Jesus S. Punzalan, Administrative Officer V Luz C. Bondoc, Municipal Agriculturist Romero C. Razon, and private individual and Buyu Trading and Construction owner William B. Colis.
The first graft case involved P31,095.20 paid for the supply of base coarse materials to Buyu Trading in December 2008. The second case was the purchase for the same materials for P192,888.
Tumang and his co-accused to the Sandiganbayan their right to speedy trial and due process were violated because it took the Office of the Ombudsman almost six years from the filing of the complaint on Jan. 16, 2018 before filing the charges against them with the anti-graft court on Jan. 24, 2024.