By Czarina Nicole Ong-Ki The Sandiganbayan Second Division has denied the motion for reconsideration filed by Maasin City Vice Mayor Maloney Labatos Samaco of Leyte, who tried to convince the court to allow him to challenge the sufficiency of the prosecution's evidence in his graft charge involving the allegedly irregular purchase of P10 million worth of communication devices in 2007. Sandiganbayan (MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) Samaco was slapped with a violation of Section 3(e) of Republic Act (RA) No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act alongside Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) chairman Crispin Mendoza Arong Jr.; BAC vice chairman Feorillo Abiera Demeterio Jr; BAC members Aniceto Felicilda Narit, Amado Palman Acasio, Encarnacion Lapasanda Lora, and Conseulo Segun Ladrera; and private individual Ma. Luzviminda Lopez from Philflex Trading and General Merchandise. Samaco, who was then the mayor of Maasin, was accused of giving undue advantage to Philflex when he purchased 14 sets of Senao SN-6108 long-range cordless telephones worth P381,360 per set, as well as 26 sets of Senao SN-568 station-to-station units worth P178,752 per set, including freight and handling charges worth P13,408 through direct contracting. His motion was denied in November last year, so Samaco filed a motion for reconsideration (MR) reiterating that the prosecution's evidence is insufficient to prove that there was conspiracy in the commission of the offense charged. He claimed there was failure to prove that their decision to resort to direct contracting was without justification. Samaco further said that his decision to rely on Philflex is "reasonable." However, the anti-graft court denied his MR for lack of merit. "A motion for reconsideration should be denied when the same only rehashes issues previously put forward. No new argument was presented by the defendants in the instant motion," the resolution stated. "The arguments raised therein have already been judiciously passed upon and properly considered by the Court in its assailed resolution." The three-page resolution was written by Associate Justice Michael Frederick Musngi with the concurrence of Second Division Chairperson Oscar Herrera Jr. and Associate Justice Lorifel Pahimna.