The Sandiganbayan has put on hold the graft charges against former Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System Administrator Diosdado Jose Allado in connection with the water regulator’s lease of land to SM Prime Holdings Inc.
In a six-page resolution, the antigraft court’s First Division said it could not proceed with the criminal charges against Allado just yet because the Quezon City Regional Trial Court was still tackling a separate civil case seeking the nullification of the lease contract.
Allado was charged in July with violating Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for allegedly awarding the lease contract to SM Prime in May 2010 without authority from the MWSS board of trustees, and without subjecting the lease proposal to a competitive Swiss challenge. By doing so, he allegedly caused undue injury to the government and gave unwarranted benefits to a private party.
The court agreed that the issue of Allado’s criminal liability hinged on whether or not the Quezon City RTC would deem the lease of the 1.417-hectare property along Katipunan Avenue to be irregular.