The Sandiganbayan has granted the bid of an ex-DoF official to present testimonies and witnesses in a case related to the multi-million tax credit certificate scam in the 1990s.

In a 14-page resolution, the Sandiganbayan Seventh Division allowed Asuncion Magdaet, a former Textile Division reviewer of the DoF-One-Stop-Shop Inter-Agency Tax Credit and Duty Drawback Center to adopt testimonies and documentary evidence of other witnesses on her multiple cases that are all linked to the tax credit scams.

Magdaet filed a consolidated motion for partial reconsideration after the prosecution thumbed down her initial appeal to adopt testimonies of other witnesses in November 2023.          

The prosecution opposed the motion due to lack of time to peruse the same and the voluminous documents attached thereto since it was only filed on the same date.

Graft probers further claimed that Magdaet’s motion lacked the necessary transcripts of stenographic notes and judicial affidavits of the witnesses, which will enable them to provide a commentary.

Thus, the prosecution contended that presenting her testimonies should not be allowed.

Magdaet was accused of conspiring with several ex-DoF officials, including former Undersecretary Antonio Belicena and former Finance Deputy Executive Director Uldarico Andutan Jr., for the anomalous grant of tax incentives to various private firms in the 1990s.

She was dismissed from the service in 2012 by the Ombudsman alongside 12 DoF officials for defrauding the government of over P82 million through rounds of the said scheme from 1994 to 1998.

In August last year, Magdaet was found guilty of 24 counts of graft along with Andutan Jr. involving P61.508 million.  

The verdict was 24 years in the making from the time the Ombudsman initiated the charges in 1999.

The same ruling, however, absolved her of 16 counts of the same criminal offense on the grounds of insufficient evidence to establish that the government suffered undue injury in the sum of P41.535 million.

In November last year, Magdaet was also acquitted of six counts each of graft and estafa through falsification of public documents over the irregular approval of tax credit certificate in favor of Filstar Textile Industrial Corp. to the tune of P16.49 million.

In granting Magdaet’s motion, the Sandiganbayan demurred with the prosecution not to allow the accused to adopt testimonies of witnesses, citing the interest of substantial justice and an equal opportunity to the defense.

“It is worth noting that the court retains the discretion to allow the introduction of additional evidence if there are valid grounds,” the court ruled.