Daily TribuneThe prosecution alleged that the transaction transpired notwithstanding that Akame and its products were not Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority-registered, making it an ineligible government supplier.
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Former Eastern Samar governor Clotilde Salazar succeeded in persuading the Sandiganbayan to have her P3.25 million graft case dismissed.
In a 10-page resolution promulgated on 29 February, the Sandiganbayan quashed the criminal charge against Salazar and her cohort Manuel Bantay Japzon, the province’s former member of the bids and awards committee, after finding merits in their motion that they must be accorded equal judgment as their co-accused.
Salazar and Japzon are named co-defendants of former Eastern Samar, now 4Ps Rep. Marcelino Libanan, in a graft case arising from the alleged anomalous procurement of 2,164 bags of fertilizer to the tune of P3.25 million from Akame Marketing International in April 2004 without the benefit of public bidding.
The prosecution alleged that the transaction transpired notwithstanding that Akame and its products were not Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority-registered, making it an ineligible government supplier.
However, in December 2022, Libanan and his other co-accused escaped criminal liability after the Supreme Court granted their motion to dismiss the crime for violation of their right to speedy disposition of the cases.
While Salazar and Japzon were not parties in the cases before the SC for failure to file a similar petition, they argued that the same ruling must be applied to them, taking into account that they were likewise subject to the Ombudsman’s resolution elevated to the SC.
The Sandiganbayan, meanwhile, found the thesis meritorious.
“There is no doubt that they were the subjects of the same preliminary investigation which the Supreme Court held was attended by inordinate delay,” the Sandiganbayan ruled.
“Similarly, in the present cases, considering that the circumstances of accused Libanan, Agda, Dorado, Ponferrada and Bormate, and accused Salazar and Japzon are the same in the proceedings before the Office of the Ombudsman, as well as in the proceedings before the Sandiganbayan, the Supreme Court’s ruling should also apply to accused Salazar and Japzon,” it said.
Last month, the Sandiganbayan junked the same motion filed by Salazar and Japzon, citing it has no leg to stand on.
