SC clears 2 PH Navy officials over overpriced meds

The Supreme Court building is viewed from its closed gateway. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court has acquitted two senior Philippine Navy officials of graft more than 30 years after state auditors claimed that they approved the purchase of medicines that were overpriced by P2.9 million.

In a 15-page notice, the tribunal’s Second Division granted the petition for certiorari filed by Comm. Francisco Tolin and Com. Manuel Tuason due to the failure of the Office of the Ombudsman to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

It voided the guilty verdict that the Sandiganbayan meted out on the Navy officers in January 2017, which the antigraft court subsequently upheld four months later.

“(T)he court takes this occasion to reiterate that the overriding consideration in criminal cases is not whether the court doubts the innocence of the accused, but whether it entertains a reasonable doubt as to his guilt,” the high court said in its March 30 ruling, which was released to the public on Tuesday.

“If there exists even one iota of doubt, the court must resolve the doubt in favor of the accused,” it stressed.

—MARLON RAMOS

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