Sandiganbayan berates Ombudsman prosecutors over absent witnesses

The Sandiganbayan has taken Ombudsman prosecutors to task for their continued failure to present witnesses in the $30-million (P1.63 billion) graft case against former Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3 general manager Al Vitangcol.

According to the minutes of its Oct. 11 hearing, the antigraft court’s Sixth Division denied the government prosecutors’ request to move the next hearing to December or January next year.

The Ombudsman panel had informed the court that the prosecution witnesses—former Czech Ambassador to the Philippines Josef Rychtar and Josef Husek—could not testify due to various reasons.

“However, despite being given the opportunity—several opportunities, in fact—the prosecution still failed to present said witnesses,” the antigraft court said.

Delay in proceedings

It said holding the trial on another date would “accomplish nothing, but cause delay in the proceedings.”

Rychtar had accused Vitangcol of demanding $30 million from the Czech company Inekon in exchange for the supply contact for the light rail vehicles of the MRT-3 capacity expansion project in July 2012.

Vitangcol denied the accusation. —MARLON RAMOS