Ex-PCGG Chairman Camilo Sabio. INQUIRER file photo
The antigraft Sandiganbayan deferred on Friday the arraignment of former Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) chair Camilo Sabio on separate corruption charges after he lost his lawyer.
The cases involved the alleged embezzlement of cash advances in 2008 and 2009 and influence peddling in 2008. Sabio was PCGG chair from 2005 to 2010.
The antigraft court’s Fifth Division postponed to Nov. 17 his arraignment for the alleged embezzlement of P632,428.03 in litigation-related cash advances in 2008 and 2009.
Associate Justice Maria Theresa V. Mendoza-Arcega noted during the hearing that “the accused is not represented today by a counsel of his choice.”
Influence-peddling
Hours later, the court’s Fourth Division also reset to Oct. 27 Sabio’s arraignment for an influence-peddling case involving his deceased brother, former Court of Appeals (CA) Justice Jose Sabio Jr., in 2008.
The former PCGG head was accused of trying to sway the CA justice to block the issuance of a temporary restraining order against the Government Service Insurance System in its ownership dispute with the Manila Electric Co.
Fifth Division chair, Associate Justice Alex Quiroz, only gave Sabio one week to find a lawyer, adding “with or without a counsel of your own choice, we will proceed [with the arraignment.]”
Quiroz said that while the court recognized the accused’s right to a counsel of his choice, it also had to comply with the Supreme Court’s directive to hold continuous trials to avoid delays.
During the hearings, the 82-year-old Sabio told the court that he intends to engage another counsel, after lawyer Ro Megan Lea Abiog withdrew her appearance.
In her motion to withdraw, Abiog clarified that her engagement as counsel was only “for the sole purpose of representing [Sabio in his] motion to reduce bail bond only.”
“In view of the foregoing reason, the undersigned counsel [can] no longer adequately fulfill her obligations as legal counsel for the accused,” she explained.
Sabio, who is also a lawyer, represented himself in the separate graft charge over P12.13-million lease deals for 11 vehicles with the United Coconut Planters Bank Leasing and Finance Corp. in 2007 and 2009.
Last June, Sabio was found guilty and sentenced to 12 to 20 years while the cases of his corespondents, former commissioners Tereso Javier, Narciso Nario and Nicasio Conti, were junked in 2014.
Provisional liberty
But Sabio still enjoys provisional liberty pending his appeal against his conviction.
However, the National Bureau of Investigation arrested Sabio in September on the basis of the warrants issued by the Fourth and Fifth Division on the two sets of cases.
Sabio claimed at the time that he did not know about the influence-peddling case filed in December 2016 and the malversation case filed in April 2017.
On the other hand, Sabio was acquitted of graft and malversation charges in April 2016 over the alleged embezzlement of P10.35 million in remittances from Mid-Pasig Land Development Corp. and proceeds from the sale of A. Soriano Corp., as well as P1.6 million in cash advances for his official trip to Malaysia.
Sabio ran for the vice presidency in 1998 but placed eighth in the nine-way race.
He again tried to be a candidate for the 2016 elections, but the Commission on Elections declared him a nuisance candidate on the basis of lack of funds and absence of a political party.