Judge, clerk charged with pocketing bail

MANILA, Philippines—A former South Cotabato judge and his clerk of court have been ordered arrested by the Sandiganbayan for allegedly making off with nearly P1 million in bail bonds.

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

The antigraft court’s Fifth Division issued the arrest warrant for former presiding judge Agustin Sardido of the Municipal Trial Court in Koronadal City and his erstwhile clerk of court, Normandie Ines Sr., after it found probable cause to indict them for graft.

The Office of the Ombudsman had recommended the filing of cases for violation of Republic Act No. 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and malversation of public funds under the Revised Penal Code based on a complaint filed by Supreme Court Administrator Midas Marquez.

“After a careful assessment of the records, the documents and other evidence submitted together with the information… the court finds the existence of probable cause and so orders the issuance of a warrant of arrest against the accused,” the Sandiganbayan said in a Jan. 5 ruling.

The resolution was signed by Associate Justice Roland Jurado, division chair, and Associate Justices Ma. Theresa Dolores Gomez-Estoesta and Oscar Herrera Jr.

In the complaint, Marquez said Sardido and Ines were responsible for issuing receipts for the cash bonds that accused in criminal cases posted for their temporary freedom.

He said they were also authorized to deposit, release and withdraw the collected bail bonds from the bank as part of the Court Judiciary Fund as stated by Supreme Court Circular No. 50-95.

The two court officials, however, allegedly failed to remit a total of P955,026 that the lower court in Koronadal collected from September 1993 to September 2001.