LWUA officials cleared in graft case due to Ombudsman delays

Local Water Utilities Administration building (Photo from www.lwua.gov.ph )

MANILA — Citing unreasonable delays on the part of the Office of the Ombudsman, the Sandiganbayan has thrown out the graft case against two former Local Water Utilities Administration officials over alleged irregularities in the payment of P1.1 million for a 2004 water project.

In a nine-page resolution dated Dec. 21, the anti-graft court’s Special First Division quashed the case against former LWUA administrator Lorenzo Jamora and acting deputy administrator Wilfredo Feleo, as well as Green Asia Construction and Development Corp. president Renato Legaspi.

The case will no longer head to trial for “violation of the constitutional right of the accused to speedy disposition of their cases.”

The court said the Office of the Ombudsman took six years, four months, and 20 days to complete the preliminary investigation into the case, from the filing of the complaint on March 22, 2010 until the charges were finally brought to the court on Aug. 12 this year.

The court noted that it did not even include yet the time taken by the fact-finding investigation.

The resolution described the delay as “inordinate and unreasonable, especially considering the issue involved in the case is not complicated.” It also stated that prosecutors did not offer any explanation for the delay.

The court explained that the Ombudsman’s failure to resolve the complaint promptly violated the accused individuals’ right to the speedy disposition of their case.

Since the assailed transaction took place in 2004, the delay also placed them at a tactical disadvantage, because the availability of defense witnesses and documentary evidence would have been affected, the resolution read.

Justice Efren de la Cruz penned the resolution, with the concurrence of Justices Michael Frederick Musngi and Reynaldo Cruz.

The case arose from LWUA’s allegedly anomalous final payment of P1.1 million on May 2004 to Green Asia, the contractor of the Guimba Water Supply Project in Nueva Ecija.

Prosecutors questioned the payment because it took place despite the absence then of a certificate of final acceptance. The charge sheet also stated that Green Asia had not complied at the time with the punch list of work for correction and restoration.

On this basis, Jamora, Feleo and Legaspi were charged with violating Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for giving unwarranted benefits to Green Asia.  SFM