Ex-GSIS chief, others off the hook

The Sandiganbayan has dismissed the graft case against former Government Security Insurance System (GSIS) officials led by ex-President Winston Garcia due to the long delay by the Ombudsman in acting on the case.

The antigraft court’s Second Division castigated the Ombudsman for taking 10 years to resolve the complaint against Garcia and 10 other former top GSIS officials, saying it had violated its constitutional duty to speedily resolve complaints against public officials.

The Sandiganbayan also said that it did not find probable cause to try Garcia and the others on the graft charges the Ombudsman had brought against them in September 2015.

Garcia and seven other former GSIS board members were indicted over the pension fund’s eCard project with Union Bank of the Philippines in 2004.

The eCard system was supposed to facilitate paperless transaction by disbursing funds to GSIS members through special automated teller machine cards.

The Ombudsman accused Garcia of giving undue preference to Union Bank when the GSIS awarded the eCard project to the bank without complying with the Government Procurement Reform Law.

The complaint against Garcia was filed before the Ombudsman on April 1, 2005.

The Ombudsman filed the case in the Sandiganbayan on Sept. 2, 2015, more than 10 years later.

“The court rules that on the ground alone of violation of the speedy disposition of the case, this case ought to be dismissed outright,” the three-member Sandiganbayan Second Division said in a decision dated March 17.

The antigraft court reminded the Ombudsman of its duty to speedily resolve complaints against public officers and employees.