Samar Rep. Milagrosa Tan has asked the Sandiganbayan to dismiss the P69.04-million graft and malversation charges against her because prosecutors have failed to prove the charges even after 10 years.
In a seven-page motion to the antigraft court’s Seventh Division, Tan claimed that the Ombudsman had taken more than 10 years just to file a charge over the purchase of unneeded medicine in 2007, when she was still Samar governor.
Tan counted the period from the Commission on Audit’s issuance of three notices of disallowance on Aug. 7, 2007. The Ombudsman only ordered Tan to file a counteraffidavit eight years later on Sept. 8, 2015, and issued a finding of probable cause against her on Oct. 6, 2016.
Tan and five others were charged with five counts each of malversation and violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and three counts of violating Section 3(g) last Nov. 24. —Vince F. Nonato