Sandiganbayan junks case vs ex-Surigao del Sur mayor due to ‘delay’

MANILA, Philippines — Due to over eight years of the Office of the Ombudsman’s “inordinate delay” in completing its preliminary investigation, the Sandiganbayan has granted the bid of former Bislig City, Surigao del Sur Mayor Librado Navarro to quash the criminal complaints filed against him in connection with the anomalous disbursement of more than P100,000 from the city’s special education fund.

In a 10-page resolution dated August 4, the anti-graft court’s Third Division ordered the dismissal of the case against him, invalidating the hold departure order issued against the former mayor.

“After a thorough review of the records of the cases, the court holds that the time it took the OMB-Mindanao (Ombudsman in Mindanao) to conduct the preliminary investigation and file the necessary Informations against Navarro was unreasonable, vexatious, capricious, oppressive, excessive, and violated his right to speedy disposition of cases. Accordingly, the motion to quash should be granted,” the document reads.

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Navarro, along with co-accused Racquel Bautista and Roberto Viduya, was facing 23 counts of Illegal Use of Public Funds or Property (Article 220 of the Revised Penal Code) for allegedly conspiring to disburse a total of P131,887.41 from the city’s Special Education Fund in 2012. The funds were reportedly used for travel expenses, equipment and vehicle repairs, office supplies, fuel, a cash book, and other miscellaneous items.

A complaint was filed before the Ombudsman in Mindanao on February 1, 2016, but it took the anti-graft body more than seven years to find probable cause—only issuing a resolution on September 11, 2023.

The Office of the Special Prosecutor later filed 23 criminal informations against the three before the Sandiganbayan on May 30, 2024.

Despite the prolonged investigation, the Sandiganbayan noted that the OMB-Mindanao “failed to show proof to support” the allegations against the officials.

“There are only three respondents involved, and there is no proof that the records of the cases are voluminous to warrant several years of review. Although there are 23 transactions involved, these are merely small amounts totaling P131,887.41 only. These are simple cases involving Illegal Use of Public Funds which do not require elaborate investigation and scrutiny,” the Sandiganbayan explained.

“Since the elements of Illegal Use of Public Funds can be readily determined from the records, there is no reason why the OMB-Mindanao took a lot of time to finish the preliminary investigation and file the corresponding Informations in court,” it added.

Citing the Ombudsman Act of 1989, the Sandiganbayan said the anti-graft body is required to promptly act on complaints filed before it.

In his motion to quash dated March 25, the anti-graft court disclosed that Navarro timely raised his right to speedy disposition of cases.

The Sandiganbayan explained that the right to a speedy disposition of a case, like the right to speedy trial, is deemed violated only “when the proceedings are attended by vexatious, capricious, and oppressive delays, or when unjustified postponements of the trial are asked for and secured, or when without cause or justifiable motive, a long time is allowed to elapse without the party having his case tried.”

In a separate resolution dated March 7, the court granted the motion to quash of Bautista and Viduya. Similarly, the cases against them were dismissed for violation of their right to speedy disposition of cases. /cb