Sandigan denies colonel’s bid to junk sexual harassment raps

 Sandiganbayan building PHOTO/ Vince F. Nonato, PDI

The Sandiganbayan has denied a high-ranking Philippine Army colonel’s motion to throw out the sexual harassment charges filed against him over three instances of alleged abusive behavior against female subordinates in 2013.

In a nine-page resolution dated Jan. 18, the court’s Sixth Division denied the motion of former Procurement Center Commanding Officer Col. Jessie Mario Dosado to quash the charges on the grounds of lack of jurisdiction.

Dosado argued that since the case did not involve the offense of graft and “there could have been no damage to the government,” the Sandiganbayan did not have the jurisdiction over it. He also said the allegations were not related to his office.

However, the anticorruption court said the allegations were “intimately connected” to his position because he could not have committed the alleged crimes if a female master sergeant and a secretary were not his subordinates.

“The official position held by the accused made it possible for him to have allegedly committed the crimes charged,” read the resolution penned by Associate Justice Sarah Jane T. Fernandez and concurred in by Associate Justices Karl B. Miranda and Bernelito R. Fernandez.

The court also rejected Dosado’s argument that his Salary Grade of 26 was not high enough to fall under its jurisdiction. The resolution noted that his alleged offenses were committed before the effectivity of Republic Act No. 10660, which imposed the jurisdiction threshold of salary grade 27.

Ombudsman prosecutors accused Dosado of asking the master sergeant to watch him have intercourse and perform sexual acts with a certain Miss Glacy on May 16, 2013. The master sergeant complied, but then, he allegedly asked her to have an orgy.

On Oct. 22, 2013, Dosado supposedly got naked and asked his secretary to wipe his back and then give him a bath. Three days later on Oct. 25, he allegedly asked the same secretary to apply lotion on “his private part.”

Prosecutors claimed Dosado told the secretary “‘Day, anong nararamdaman mo, ‘Day, nakita mo na nakahubad ako (Girl, what do you feel, Girl, now you see me nude)?”

He also allegedly compared his penis to that of a certain Dennis, asking the secretary: “Sinong malaki sa amin ng ari ni Dennis (Whose genital is bigger, mine or Dennis)?”

All three instances allegedly took place at Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City. The two complainants will testify against Dosado in the court during the trial.