The Sandiganbayan Fourth Division reversed the ruling of the Cebu City Regional Trial Court (RTC) concerning the graft case of an official from Barangay San Antonio, Cebu City involving the supposed loss of P4.6-million pesos between a period of 2013 to 2018.

Based on the information included in the anti-graft court’s resolution dated 7 July, the case stemmed from a Letter of Recommendation of the Commission on Audit Regional Office No. VII - Cebu City (COA-Cebu) issued on 9 July 2018 to file a case of malversation against Christopher Cadindin, the former treasurer of Barangay San Antonio.

In the resolution of the investigation of the Office of the Ombudsman, it was stated that the body had found probable cause to charge Cadindin with both malversation and graft.

The Ombudsman said that the former official had taken advantage of his position and acted with “deliberate intent, and with evident bad faith” through the unlawful issuance of “checks for transactions that had already been paid.”

It was also noted that Cadindin had “unjustifiably failed or refused to liquidate various cash advances” which ultimately led to the total amount of P4,621,847.63 to be misused.

The case was said to have been initially filed on 17 June 2022 to the RTC and would not be resolved until 12 September 2024 where the accused was convicted for both charges.

However, for the Sandiganbayan, the prosecutors handling the case were not able to properly establish whether Candindin had in fact acted in “evident bad faith” when it came to the conduct of his duty.

The court reasoned that the evidence presented such as the records from COA and a testimony of COA-Cebu State Auditor Maria Daisy Bercede did not necessarily establish that the accused had a “deliberate intent to cause injury” which was one of three modes that a case of graft was committed.

It argued that the prosecution was also unable to present sufficient arguments that Cadindin acted with “manifest partiality” and that his conduct equated to a “gross inexcusable negligence.”

Given the arguments, the justices of the Fourth Division said that it did not agree with the RTC’s findings that the former barangay official was guilty beyond reasonable doubt when it came to graft.

The Court stated that conviction could not simply rest on the weak defense of the accused party, and should instead rely on the strength of evidence presented against them.

It said that such matters should not be tossed up to “guesswork,” particularly as it was the liberty of a person that was being discussed.

“It is, therefore, better to liberate a guilty man than to unjustly keep in prison one whose guilt has not been proved by the required quantum of evidence,” the resolution read.

With the appeal granted, Cadindin was acquitted of his graft charge with his case being reversed and set aside due to the insufficiency of evidence.

Notably, the former official remains convicted for malversation as the only case that was elevated to the Sandiganbayan was the case of graft.