The Sandiganbayan has denied the motions filed by former Quezon City 2nd District Rep. Mari Grace Preciosa H. Castelo and her 10 other co-accused to dismiss the cases for graft and estafa through falsification of public documents filed against them.

They were charged in the alleged ghost hiring of workers for the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program from 2020 to 2021.

Also charged, aside from Castelo, were her political affairs officer Maria Theresa D. Encallado as well as office staff and volunteers Annabelle O. Ocfemia, Edilbert P. Valerio, and Eliseo G. Hermoso, Rosalie Linga Buena, Margie C. Varon, Jacqueline N. Sales, Elizabeth D. Martinez, Elnor V. Magculang, and Emma F. Agraan.

They reportedly submitted falsified documents such as Letters of Intent, Work Programs, Lists of Beneficiaries, and Daily Time Records (DTRs) to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) that processed and approved, through the Palawan Express Remittance Center, the payment of wages to the supposed beneficiaries of TUPAD  in Barangays Batasan Hills, Commonwealth and Holy Spirit in the amount of P1,090,110.

In filing the cases against them before the anti-graft court, the prosecution said that the alleged beneficiaries did not really render any service. The accused themselves reportedly collected for themselves a substantial portion of the wages from each beneficiary, it said.

In her motion to quash, Castelo argued that the charges against her are "lacking" as there is no clear showing that her acts were attended with bad faith, manifest partiality, or gross inexcusable negligence or any damage caused to the government.

The rest of the accused, on the other hand, insisted that the charges do not constitute an offense. They maintained that they are not public officers discharging administrative or official functions.

As private individuals, they had no part in the process of submitting the subject documents so there can be no manifest partiality, evident bad faith, or gross inexcusable negligence.

However, the Sandiganbayan ruled that their motions lack merit and that the proper trial will be the right venue for their arguments.

"Applying settled jurisprudence, this Court finds that the elements for both charges are sufficiently alleged in the respective Informations” (criminal charge sheets), the court’s resolution stated.

It also said: "Clearly, the issues raised by the accused-movants in their respective Motions to Quash are matters of defense that could only be threshed out in a full-blown trial on the merits and not in a motion to quash. Verily, there are no justifications for the quashal of the subject Informations.”

The 10-page resolution was written by Associate Justice Bernelito R. Fernandez with the concurrence of Third Division Chairperson and Associate Justice Karl B. Miranda and Associate Justice Ronald B. Moreno.