Sandigan nixes ex-Bayambang execs’ demurrer plea

The Sandiganbayan has thumbed down the appeal of former Bayambang, Pangasinan mayor Ricardo Camacho and co-accused businessman Willie Chua for the outright dismissal of their graft case over a land swap deal in 2013.

In a resolution issued on 22 May but made public only recently, the Sandiganbayan Sixth Division denied Camacho’s and Chua’s respective demurrer to evidence pleas for lack of merit.

“After examining the prosecution’s evidence and the parties’ arguments, the court rules that granting accused Camacho and accused Chua leave to file their respective demurrers to evidence will merely cause delay in the proceedings,” the anti-graft court said.

Camacho and Chua were sued for graft in August 2013 for swapping a 31,650-square-meter Bayambang Central School for a 20,581-square-meter private lot property owned by Chua.

Court records showed that the government property had a market value of P25,320,000, while Chua’s property was only priced at P16,464,800.

The two were accused of being in cahoots for allegedly transferring the municipality’s bigger and more valuable property for a private lot, which had a significantly lower market value, causing undue injury to the government.

The Ombudsman’s investigation also revealed that the documents supporting the execution of the Deed of Exchange are fictitious and fabricated.

Chua, however, contended that he had knowledge that the Deed of Exchange was defective and that there was no evidence to show that graft and corruption attended the execution of the same.

Meanwhile, Camacho asserted that the prosecution failed to prove that he conferred unwarranted benefits and advantages on Chua. Moreover, he denied that the land swap deal grossly disadvantaged the government.