Published January 20, 2021, 2:00 PM
Former Senator Juan Ponce Enrile failed to fend off a witness in his plunder case since the Sandiganbayan Third Division junked his Objection and allowed prosecution witness Atty. Ryan P. Medrano, Director IV of the Field Investigation Office of the Ombudsman, to use his Judicial Affidavit.
Former Senator Juan Ponce Enrile
(MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Enrile is facing one plunder and 15 graft charges because of the reported misuse of his priority development assistance fund (PDAF), which he allegedly endorsed to the bogus non-government organizations (NGOs) owned by Janet Lim Napoles in exchange for kickbacks.
For Enrile’s plunder case, the Office of the Special Prosecutor submitted the Judicial Affidavit of Atty. Medrano dated February 12, which Enrile filed an Objection to.
(MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Lacuna and his wife filed a motion for reconsideration and argued that the prosecution failed to prove the spirit of R.A. 1379, which required that the property to be forfeited must be found to have been unlawfully acquired.
They said the original copies of their statement of assets liabilities and net worth (SALN) were neither presented nor admitted by them, so there was an unjust implementation of the law.
The Lacuna couple also drew comparisons to the forfeiture cases of the Marcos family, which were dismissed by different divisions of the Sandiganbayan.
They said the Marcos family amassed wealth beyond their means, but they were still let off the hook.
Published January 13, 2021, 3:54 PM
The Sandiganbayan Third Division has ordered the 90-day suspension pendente lite of Davao del Sur Vice Gov. Marc Douglas Chan Cagas IV in light of his graft and malversation cases involving the misuse of his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) when he was a congressman.
MANILA BULLETIN FILE
The anti-graft court gave Cagas the chance to explain why he should not be preventively suspended from office pursuant to Section 13 of Republic Act (RA) 3019 and Section 4, Rule 8 of the 2018 Revised Internal Rules of the Sandiganbayan.
Cagas contended that being placed under preventive suspension will no longer serve its purpose since the opportunity to tamper the documents or influence possible witnesses in the cases would not do him any benefit.
MANILA BULLETIN FILE
Tuquero was found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of violating Section 3(e) of R.A. 3019, otherwise known as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act alongside Sangguniang Bayan (SB) members Lourdes Alberto del Rosario, Rosario T. Mollasgo, Domingo Creer Villanueva, William Tuno Tuplano, Horacio Timola Aquino Jr., and Gomercindo Tebelin Litong.
They filed a motion for reconsideration on October 9, 2020 and argued that the facts alleged in the Information constituting the crime of graft was not proven in court.
They said that their co-accused, Mayor Jose dela Cruz Torres, was ousted on May 8, 2006. Hence, they argued, all transactions made by Torres after his ouster was done in his personal capacity. This negates their alleged act of conspiracy with Torres.
Published December 11, 2020, 1:56 PM
The Sandiganbayan Third Division refused to budge on its decision to convict former Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) General Manager Adelberto Frederico Yap of his two graft charges involving the irregular purchase of a P38 million Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting Truck back in 2006.
MANILA BULLETIN FILE
Yap allowed Asiaborders Philippines Inc. president Marlon E. Barillo to win the bidding for the said truck even though his company wasn’t a qualified bidder, and he even made an advanced partial payment of P6 million to the said company.
At the same time, the vehicle subject of the contract has not yet been delivered, inspected and accepted, which is in violation of Section 88 of Presidential Decree No. 1445.