Former Palawan Gov. Mario Joel Reyes (File photo from Philippine Daily Inquirer)
The Sandiganbayan Second Division has rescheduled to September 5 the arraignment of former Palawan Governor Mario Joel Reyes for the P1.53-billion Malampaya fund scam pending resolution of his plea for the dismissal of his cases.
Reyes and some of his coaccused have pending motions to dismiss the cases against them over the anomalies from 2008 to 2009, prompting the court to cancel the arraignment set for June 6.
At the same time, the Ombudsman’s Office of the Special Prosecutor opposed Reyes’ motion for judicial determination of probable cause in his 36 graft cases.
Reyes had insisted there was a “complete lack of basis to sustain a prima facie case” against him. He pointed to his subordinates as the ones accountable for alleged procurement irregularities, claimed the projects were completed, and played down the supposed omissions in the awarded contracts.
The OSP in a four-page opposition said Reyes raised no new arguments to warrant the reversal of the court’s March 17 resolution affirming that there was probable cause to order the defendants’ arrest and proceed to trial.
In a separate five-page opposition, the OSP also blocked the motion of private contractor Abelardo Salazar to quash the case for insufficiency and suspend the proceedings pending his Supreme Court petition questioning the Ombudsman investigation.
The OSP maintained the charge sheets were sufficient and should not be stopped from going to trial. The prosecution said his arguments such as the absence of conspiracy and issues of credibility of the Commission on Audit’s report are matters of defense best threshed out in a full-blown trial.
It added the pendency of the SC petition is no reason to suspend the cases that reached the Sandiganbayan. The opposition noted that since the petition was filed in January, the high court has yet to issue a temporary restraining order on the Sandiganbayan proceedings.
The same argument was raised by the OSP in yet another seven-page opposition filed in response to the motion by private contractors Armando Lustre Jr., Prospero Gabayan Jr., Lorenzo Leoncio and Ulysses Consebido. Like Salazar, the four private individuals also challenged the validity of the Ombudsman’s findings before the SC.
The OSP also denied the four individuals’ contention that the case was attended by unreasonable delay. It said the four-year length of the preliminary investigation was justified because of the “sheer number of accused and voluminous records involved.”
The prosecution also said the four “appeared to have slept on their rights” to the speedy disposition of their cases because they never raised the issue of purported delays before the Ombudsman.
The Malampaya cases were filed in connection with anomalies allegedly surrounding 209 contracts funded by the royalties received by the provincial government following former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s issuance of Executive Order No. 683 in 2007. The said projects were cornered by 11 contractors.
Reyes was charged with 14 counts of violating Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for causing undue injury to the government and giving unwarranted benefits to private parties.
This he allegedly did by awarding 209 infrastructure contracts to 11 construction firms totaling P1.53 billion despite noncompliance with the requirements of the Government Procurement Reform Act, and by approving the payment to three contractors despite the lack of supporting documents.
The former governor was also slapped with 22 counts of violating Section 3(g) of the graft law for signing on to allegedly disadvantageous contracts that do not provide for the payment of liquidated damages in case of project delays.
Prosecutors also accused the provincial engineer’s office and two state auditors of fabricating accomplishment reports to justify payment for 39 unfinished projects worth P461.37 million./rga