Anti-graft court junks plea of 3 Palawan officials

INQUIRER PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA

The Sandiganbayan has dismissed the appeals of three of the 14 former Palawan officials who were charged for the alleged misuse of P1.5 billion in royalties from the Malampaya gas field.

The antigraft court’s Second Division dismissed the motions for reconsideration of resident provincial engineers Romeo Llacuna and Bernard Zambales and senior technical audit specialist Ronelo del Socorro, seeking to dismiss the charges against them.

The court pointed out that there was no “compelling ground” to reconsider its earlier resolution because it was “arrived at after a painstaking review of the facts and arguments presented before it.”

READ: Ex-Palawan gov Reyes pleads not guilty in P1.53-B Malampaya fund mess

“All things considered, there being no new or additional arguments or compelling reason raised by the accused-movants to warrant a reconsideration of the assailed resolution … the court is denying their motions …,” read the April 2 resolution.

It was penned by Associate Justice Arthur Malabaguio and concurred in by Associate Justices Edgardo Caldona and Oscar Herrera Jr., the division chairperson.

The case involves 75 counts of graft, 77 counts of falsification charges and seven counts of violating a presidential decree penalizing contractors violating a contract. One of the defendants died in 2017, but the court ruled this does not extinguish his co-accused’s liabilities. —DEMPSEY REYES