Corruption trial of ex-lawmaker Zenaida Ducut suspended

The Sandiganbayan Centennial Building in Quezon City. (INQUIRER.net file photo)

MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan has granted the plea of former Pampanga Rep. Zenaida Cruz-Ducut to suspend proceedings on the cases pending against her in connection with the multibillion-peso pork barrel scam because she was suffering from possible mild dementia.

In a 21-page resolution dated June 14, the antigraft court’s Seventh Division said Cruz-Ducut, based on the findings of her doctors, was “unfit to stand trial” and all her instant cases may be archived.

The resolution — which was penned by Associate Justice Zaldy Trespeses, with the concurrence of Associate Justices Ma. Theresa Dolores Gomez-Estoesta (the division chair) and Georgina Hidalgo — also directed that the accused undergo a mental examination every June at the National Center for Mental Health.

Former Pampanga Rep. Zenaida Cruz-Ducut

A copy of the resulting medical report must be submitted to the court, which also said that the archived cases against Cruz-Ducut would be revived should her mental condition “adequately improve.”

Cognitive deterioration

On Jan. 29, 2020, Cruz-Ducut filed a motion for suspension of proceedings due to her “impaired cognitive abilities and diminished capacity,” saying she was “unfit and incompetent” to stand trial.

Dr. Jemellee Cano of St. Luke’s Medical Center (SLMC) in Quezon City told the court that based on Cruz-Ducut’s magnetic resonance imaging results, there were small chronic hemorrhages in the brain, which were associated with the “increased risks of cognitive deterioration.”

Cano and another SLMC doctor, clinical psychologist Marvin Franz Samala, said Cruz-Ducut’s condition was “suggestive mild dementia, probable vascular dementia.”

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