For violation of ther right to speedy disposition of cases, the Sandiganbayan has dismissed the criminal charges filed against former mayor Teddy Canlas Tumang of Mexico, Pampanga and William B. Colis, proprietor of Buyu Trading and Construction.

Tumas and Canlas were charged with 29 counts of graft over the irregular purchase of 29 base coarse and other construction materials for the municipality. 

The Office od the Ombudsman (OMB) found probable cause to indict them in a resolution dated March 28, 2019 based on a complaint filed on Dec. 13, 2017. The charges against them were filed before the Sandiganbayan on April 25, 2024.

Tumang and Colis filed a Motion to Quash on May 30, 2024.  They told the anti-graft court that the charges against them do not constitute an offense.  They also pointed out that their right to speedy disposes of cases was violated by the OMB.

In dismissing the charges due to inordinate delay and, thus, violating the right to speedy disposition of cases, the Sandiganbayan said: 

"The preliminary investigation lasted six years, four months, and 12 days, counted from the time of the filing of the Complaint (in 2017) to the filing of the Informations with the Court. It took the OMB one year, three months, and 15 days to issue the Resolution finding probable cause to indict the accused, after which, a total of four years, 11 months, and 23 days lapsed before it resolved accused's motions for reconsideration and proceeded to file the Information.

"Thus, the preliminary investigation that preceded the filing of these cases exceeded allowable periods provided for under the Rules of Court."

The Sandiganbayan lamented that the prosecution failed to discuss the context or circumstances surrounding the cases against the accused, the amount of evidence to be considered, or the complexity of the issues involved. 

Instead, the anti-graft court said the prosecutors pointed to the Covid-19 pandemic to justify the length of time it took to conclude the preliminary investigation.

"The prosecution's justifications fail to convince the Court," it said as it stressed that it "cannot give weight to the prosecution's blanket invocation of the Covid-19 pandemic."

Even if the court did consider the Covid-19 pandemic, it said that the Ombudsman still took nine months just to resolve the accused's motion for reconsideration. For the court, the delay was "unjustified" and the entire preliminary investigation proceedings of the case have been attended by inordinate delay, it said.

The 12-page resolution was written by Associate Justice Bayani H. Jacinto with the concurrence of First Division Chairperson Associate Justice Efren N. De La Cruz and Associate Justice Juliet M. Manalo-San Gaspar.