Sandiganbayan junks falsification case vs ex-S. Leyte gov

The Sandiganbayan has thrown out the falsification case against dismissed Southern Leyte Gov. Damian Mercado because it took the Ombudsman 10 years to investigate the issue of his alleged misrepresentation of his credentials.

In a 10-page resolution dated May 21, the court’s Fifth Division said “the right of accused Mercado to speedy disposition of his case takes precedence over the right of the State to prosecute.”

The court said the issue of whether Mercado intentionally lied about being a civil engineer in his personal data sheet and elective local official’s personal directory was “overly simple enough … [and] should not have taken 10 long years to resolve.”

The period was counted from the filing of the complaint by Anabeliz Gultiano, Bryan Jay Garces and Fr. Garnet Quirong on March 7, 2008, until the charges were brought to the Sandiganbayan last Feb. 23.

Mercado was dismissed by the Ombudsman in August last year for grave misconduct in connection with the anomalous purchase of three secondhand vehicles for P2.3 million when he was the mayor of Maasin City in 2007. He originally owned one of the used cars. —VINCE F. NONATO