Former Puerto Princesa City Mayor Edward Hagedorn. (File photo from Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Former Puerto Princesa City Mayor Edward Hagedorn has filed a motion for the dismissal of charges against him for perjury, ethics breach and graft over his alleged failure to declare his businesses and vehicles in his statement of assets and liabilities networth (SALN).
Hagedorn filed an urgent omnibus motion to the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division and said the anti-graft court should dismiss the cases with prejudice.
READ: Hagedorn charged with perjury over false SALN declarations
In his motion, Hagedorn said he had no undeclared wealth in his SALNs, which all indicated the true value of his assets.
“It is very important to emphasize that the accused never under-declared the value of his assets,” Hagedorn’s lawyers said. “He has no undeclared wealth. All his SALNs indicate an accurate value of his assets.”
Hagedorn said the allegation that he misdeclared his wealth was “false,” especially because he filed a separate attachment to his SALN saying he said sufficed to comply with the required truthful disclosure of wealth.
‘Honest mistake’
He said the SALN compliance rule is a “difficult question of law” that did not even spare the late Chief Justice Renato Corona, who was impeached by Congress for failure to disclose his assets in SALN.
“The accused, not being a lawyer, complied with the law as he understood it,” Hagedorn’s lawyers said. “The accused is not trained in the technical aspects of the law.”
Hagedorn said he should not be “faulted” for his “honest mistake” of not declaring in his SALN his trusteeship in various businesses as advised by his lawyer.
“Mistake in a difficult question of law is a basis for good faith,” he said. “This is an honest mistake on the part of the accused.”
He said he had divested his shares in the corporations which he allegedly did not disclose in his SALNs, by executing deeds of trust in favor of his grandchildren.
He said he should not be prosecuted for not declaring his motorcycles in his SALN because these were raffled off to his constituents and thus he no longer owned them.
“He has no reason to maintain or hoard a fleet of motorcycles,” Hagedorn said.
‘Good faith’
He said he only had “good faith” in not declaring all his cars in his SALN, because these were already “scrap” and thus had no value.
“Common sense also dictates that scrap vehicles could not be considered as assets,” Hagedorn said.
He said the facts in the information did not charge a criminal offense, because there was no allegation the SALNs were under oath and subscribed before competent officers.
‘Unreasonable delay’
He also cited the allegedly unreasonable delay of the Office of the Ombudsman in investigating the case before its filing to the Sandiganbayan, which he claimed violated his constitutional right to a speedy disposition of cases.
“The preliminary investigation of these cases lasted for at least three years and five months, more or less,” Hagedorn said. “The Rules of Court provides that preliminary investigation should be terminated within 60 days only.”
Finally, Hagedorn said the information filed against him were “duplicitous,” which could be condensed into one single case information.
Undeclarerd 59 properties, 45 vehicles
The Office of the Special Prosecutor filed nine counts each of perjury and graft against Hagedorn for his failure to declare 59 residential, agricultural, and commercial properties, as well as 45 vehicles – including motorcycles, luxury vehicles such as Volvo, Toyota Landcruiser, BMW, and other sports utility vehicles.
READ: Hagedorn faces perjury charges for alleged false SALN declaration
Hagedorn allegedly failed to disclose his business interests in the firms Palawan Jolly Foods Corp., Puerto Princesa Broadcasting Corp., Puerto Prince Bee Foods Corp., Green Forest Blue Waters Corp., Radiant Home Land Development, Inc., and Hagedorn Travel and Tours, Inc.
Besides the graft and perjury, the prosecutors also filed nine counts of violations of Section 8 of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees (Republic Act 6713) for his non-filing of truthful SALNs.
According to the charge sheet for nine counts of violations of Section 7 of the anti-graft law, Hagedorn “unlawfully and criminally failed to truthfully and accurately declare in his SALN the real properties, motor vehicles and corporate/business interests that he in fact owns” in the years from 2004 to 2012.
Hagedorn “concealed information about his ownership of real and personal properties by failing to accurately declare them in his SALNs,” the Office of the Ombudsman earlier said in its indictment against Hagedorn.
“(A)n examination of respondent’s SALN from 2004 to 2012 would reveal that, during the said years, he declared only three real properties located in Puerto Princesa City and one real property located in Parañaque City as his own… (B)y any standard, the disparity between the number of realties registered in respondent’s name and that declared in his SALNs is too significant to be dismissed,” the indictment said.
The Office of the Ombudsman said tax declarations submitted during the preliminary investigations showed that Hagedorn had more than three real properties registered under his name – five buildings, four commercial lands, 10 agriculture lands, and 40 residential lands.
Legal requirements
Public officials are required to submit truthful and accurate SALNs as required by the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act 3019) and the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees (Republic Act 6713).
Failure to declare a truthful statement of wealth is punishable with five years imprisonment and/or a fine not exceeding P5,000 according to Republic Act 6713.
Meanwhile, a person commits perjury by deliberately making an untruthful statement in a document required by law to be sworn before any public officer, the Office of the Ombudsman said.
The prosecutors recommended bail of P4,000 for each count of graft, P6,000 for each count of perjury, and P10,000 for each count of ethical breach – for a total bail amount of P180,000. /atm
Hagedorn has posted bail.