Condonation doctrine saves Malapitan in pork scam case

THE COURT of Appeals (CA) has nullified the grave misconduct case filed against Caloocan City Mayor Oscar Malapitan in connection with the 2013 pork barrel scam, citing the controversial “condonation” doctrine.

In a decision dated Aug. 31, the CA Special Tenth Division stopped the Office of the Ombudsman from pursuing the administrative case against Malapitan over the alleged misuse of P8 million of his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) allocations when he was the congressman of the city’s District 1 in 2009.

It said the Ombudsman committed grave abuse of discretion by refusing to dismiss the complaint filed by its anticorruption arm, the Public Assistance and Corruption Preventive Office (PACPO).

The court gave weight to Malapitan’s argument that the condonation doctrine warrants the outright dismissal of the administrative complaint.

Under the said doctrine, Malapitan argued that his election as city mayor in 2013 served as an implied condonation of alleged wrongdoing committed during his previous term.

While the Supreme Court abandoned the doctrine in its November 2015 decision on the case of Makati City Mayor Jejomar “Junjun” S. Binay Jr., the CA emphasized that the ruling was “prospective” or to be applied to administrative cases occurring afterwards.

The appeals court said the doctrine is still applicable in Malapitan’s case, because it was in 2009 when he apparently approved the release of his PDAF funds to Kalookan Assistance Council, Inc.

“In fine, at the inception of the said cases, the condonation doctrine is still a valid and good law,” the decision read. “We find no justification to sustain the continuation of the administrative proceedings against Malapitan as he could no longer be held administratively liable for the act…”

It also said there was “something amiss” regarding the PACPO’s failure to implead Malapitan in the administrative case when it was first filed in February 2015. PACPO only amended its case to include him as respondent in January 2016, citing “inadvertence” for its mistake.

Even then, the CA clarified that it is “not declaring him exonerated from all liability arising from the alleged anomalous transaction… other than administrative.”

Besides the nullified administrative proceedings, Malapitan still faces PACPO’s criminal complaint for graft and malversation, which is currently being investigated by the Ombudsman.

Associate Justice Zenaida T. Galapate-Laguilles penned the decision, with Associate Justices Mariflor P. Punzalan Castillo and Victoria Isabel A. Paredes concurring.

The P10-billion pork barrel scam was exposed in a series of Inquirer investigative reports published in July 2013.