Graft case vs ex-postmaster general refiled

If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again.

For the second time, Ombudsman prosecutors have charged former Postmaster General Diomedio Villanueva over an anomalous $1-million refund to a private firm, after an earlier case was tossed by the Sandiganbayan last month for being defective.

The court’s Seventh Division in its Aug. 24 and Oct. 6 resolutions faulted the prosecution for failing to state that Villanueva acted with “manifest partiality,” “evident bad faith,” or “gross inexcusable negligence.”

These essential elements for a valid case of violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act were omitted in the original information filed in June. This led to the dismissal of the case before Villanueva was arraigned.

In the new information filed on Nov. 17, the Ombudsman did not forget to include those basic statements this time.

The case arose from the Nov. 19, 2003 refund of $1,031,936.04 (equivalent to P53,043,834.52) to Philpost USA for terminal dues paid for mail matters sent to the United Kingdom’s Royal Mail. Prosecutors claimed Philpost USA was not entitled to the refund.

Prior to his stint as postmaster general, Villanueva served as the Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff from 2001 to 2002 under then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.