Lawmaker warns 2 special courts on pork scam may lead to conflicting rulings

Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Ombudsman’s proposal to have at least two special Sandiganbayan special divisions to concentrate on the pork barrel cases could lead to opposing and inconsistent actions, said Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr.

In a text message to reporters, Barzaga said:

“The two separate courts shall be separate and distinct from one another. Therefore, the possibility of difference in rulings like petition for bail, house or hospital arrests, existence of probable cause to issue warrants of arrests and other incidents might be different. “It is even possible that in one court it is a judgment of conviction and judgment of acquittal on the other court.”

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales on Friday sent a letter to Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno urging the creation of at least two special divisions of the anti-graft court to “to exclusively try and conduct continuous trial” of the criminal cases filed in connection with the alleged misuse of the congressional Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

Also on Friday, the Ombudsman filed with the Sandiganbayan plunder charges against Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. in the first indictments handed down involving the alleged P10-billion PDAF scam.

Also named respondents were the senators’ senior staff officers — Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes for Enrile, Richard Cambe for Revilla and Paulene Therese Mary C. Labayen for Estrada — the alleged PDAF mastermind, Janet Lim Napoles, her fugitive brother John Ronald Lim and her driver-bodyguard John Raymond de Asis.

Barzaga described Morales’ request to Sereno as well-motivated but ill-advised.

“To avoid these possibilities of different rulings and in order not to unduly confuse the public in the event of conflicting orders from two special courts, it would be more prudent, to have one instead of two special courts,” said Barzaga. “After all, based on current statistics, one division in the Sandiganbayan handles on the average 300 cases and therefore one special court could handle effectively all the present pork barrel cases.”

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