The Sandiganbayan has allowed the consolidation of the graft and malversation cases filed against resigned congressman Zaldy Co and 15 other accused to “promote the speedy disposition of cases.”

The lone graft case against Co contained in the second case filed by the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) was not included in the consolidation.

With the consolidation, the two cases will be handled by the anti-graft court’s fifth division.

In the consolidation of cases, the division which has the lowest number of the case docket will handle the trial of the cases.

Co and the 15 other accused were charged with violations of Section 3(e) of Republic Act No. 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, before the fifth division and Article 171(4) of the Revised Penal Code or Malversation of Public Funds through Falsification of Public Documents before the sixth division.

In a resolution dated Nov. 27, the anti-graft court granted the motion to consolidate cases filed by the prosecutors of the Office of the Office of the Ombudsman.

The prosecution argued that separate trials will be costly, and time-consuming, given the parties involved, the factual background, and evidence to be presented.

The anti-graft court cited Rule 119, Section 22 of the Rules of Court, which states that "charges for offenses founded on the same facts or forming part of a series of offenses of similar character may be tried jointly at the discretion of the court."

Thus, the court agreed with the prosecution. "SB-25-CRM-0039, pending before the fifth division, and SB-25-CRM-0041, pending before this Court (sixth division), appear to have arisen from the same transaction, i.e., CID No. 24E00047, involve the very same parties, and will entail the presentation of substantially the same witnesses and documentary evidence during trial," it said.

"Further considering that the cases were only recently raffled to the fifth and sixth divisions of the Sandiganbayan, and trial has not yet begun for both cases, the consolidation of the two cases will promote the speedy disposition of cases, serve the convenience of the parties and the interest of justice, and prevent conflicting rulings on the same set of facts," it added.

The resolution was signed by Associate Justice Sarah Jane T. Fernandez and Associate Justices Kevin Narce B. Vivero and Lord A. Villanueva.

Since the prosecutors have recommended no bail for the malversation charges, the accused who have been arraigned are now detained at Camp Karingal in Quezon City and the Payatas new jail facility.

Those arraigned and pleaded “not guilty” to graft and malversation charges were former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Region IV-B Regional Director Gerald A. Pacanan, Assistant Regional Director Gene Ryan A. Altea, Assistant Regional Director Ruben D. Santos, Jr., Construction Division Chief Dominic G. Serrano, Project Engineer III Felisardo S. Casuno, Accountant IV Lerma D. Cayco, Maintenance Division Head Juliet Calvo, officer-in-charge Chief of Quality Assurance and Hydrology Division Dennis Pelo Abagon, and Planning and Design Division officer-in-charge Montrexis Tamayo.

Co remains at large, together with Materials Engineer Timojen Adiong Sacar, as well as Sunwest Construction and Development Corporation President Aderma Angelie D. Alcazar, Treasurer Cesar X. Buenaventura, and board of directors Consuelo Dayto Aldon, Engineer Noel Yao Cao, and Anthony L. Ngo.

Earlier, the Office of the Ombudsman had issued a six-month preventive suspension against the 12 accused DPWH officials -- Pacanan, Altea, Santos Jr., Serrano, Casuno, Sacar, Tamayo, Calvo, Abagon, Cayco, Lopez, and Camero.

The suspension stemmed from the administrative case that was instituted simultaneously with the criminal charge," said Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano.

They were all implicated in the irregular P289 million flood-control project for the Construction of a Road Dike along the Mag-Asawang Tubig River in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro, which was found to be substandard.