What happened to bail plea, ex-top cops ask
MANILA, Philippines—Two former senior officials of the Philippine National Police (PNP) have asked the Sandiganbayan to resolve immediately their petitions for bail, pointing out the 90-day period for the court to decide on their motion had lapsed.
In a joint motion to resolve, retired PNP Director General Avelino Razon Jr. and ex-Deputy Director General Geary Barias said they had “painstakingly waited” for the antigraft court’s Fourth Division to grant them bail after it concluded their bail hearing in September last year.
Along with four other senior PNP officers, Razon and Barias were indicted for graft and malversation through falsification of public documents in connection with the alleged ghost repair of police vehicles in the amount of P385.5 million.
The two have been held at the PNP Custodial Center at Camp Crame since the court ordered their arrest in August 2013.
In asking the court to promptly act on their petition, Razon and Barias said the prosecution had been “given much leeway in presenting evidence to prove that the guilt of the accused is strong.”
“On the other hand, the accused are miserably suffering from the delay in the resolution of their application for bail,” they said in their joint motion dated Jan. 23.
“Any single day of delay thereof is necessarily a denial of their right to a speedy disposition of their case and to due process. Their quest for justice is simply denied (because of) the delay in the resolution of their application for bail,” they said.
“It is in this light that the accused implore the judicious and sound discretion of the honorable court to resolve now their (pending motion),” they added.
The former police officials noted that in a similar case, another division of the Sandiganbayan had ruled that officials accused of malversation of public funds “shall not be deprived” of their constitutional right to post bail.
“On that score alone, all of the accused should be allowed to post bail and immediately released from detention,” they said.
