MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan Fifth Division on Tuesday moved the arraignment of Tarlac Rep. Noel Rivera to October 7 in light of his motion to consolidate the cases against him.
Rivera, who represents the third district of Tarlac province, faces nine counts of violating Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act before the Sandiganbayan, two of which were raffled to the court’s Fifth Division.
At the hearing on Tuesday, Sandiganbayan Fifth Division Chairperson Associate Justice Zaldy Trespeses noted the motions for consolidation and to quash the information filed by Rivera through his legal counsel on August 11 and 24, respectively.
“The arraignment is deferred, considering [the] pendency of the motion for consolidation and the motion to quash filed by the accused in both cases,” Trespeses said.
READ: Sandiganbayan junks Noel Rivera’s move to consolidate graft cases
He also acknowledged the omnibus consolidated comment-opposition filed by state prosecutors on August 28 in response to Rivera’s motions.
“The same are now submitted for resolution,” Trespeses noted.
The charges against Rivera stem from his and his wife’s alleged shareholdings in Tarlac 3-G Construction and Development Corporation, which obtained nine government infrastructure contracts during his term in office from 2022 to 2025.
State prosecutors indicted Rivera for violating Section 3(h) of RA No. 3019, which prohibits “directly or indirectly having financing or pecuniary interest in any business, contract or transaction in connection with which he intervenes or takes part in his official capacity, or in which he is prohibited by the Constitution or by any law from having any interest.”
Last Thursday, the Sandiganbayan Sixth Division, which also handles two of Rivera’s cases, denied his move to consolidate the nine counts of graft to a single court division.
The Sixth Division agreed with the prosecution’s argument that consolidating the cases “will only result in the muddling of facts and issues, which may cause confusion and delay.” /jpv