Sandiganbayan orders arrest of ex-PCGG chair Sabio over graft conviction
TUGUEGARAO, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan has ordered the arrest of former Philippine Commission on Good Governance chair Camilo Sabio over a graft conviction.
The STAR reported that the anti-graft court’s Fourth Division junked Sabio’s motion for reconsideration on a December 2019 ruling where he was found guilty for graft.
The court also held that Sabio failed to file his appeal within the prescribed period, which renders the judgment final and executory.
“Let a Warrant of Arrest be issued against the said accused and the post-promulgation bond he posted be cancelled,” Associate Justice Reynaldo Cruz wrote.
Sandigan orders arrest of ex-PCGG chair Camilo Sabio as it denies his appeal on his graft conviction which stemmed from allegedly influencing his late younger brother, then CA Associate Justice Jose Sabio Jr. in deciding a 2008 ownership row case. | @marcelo_beth pic.twitter.com/bNR4MDq4cI
— The Philippine Star (@PhilippineStar) March 9, 2020
He was found guilty of allowing himself to be persuaded by a lawyer into calling his brother, then-Court of Appeals Associate Justice Jose Sabio Jr., to influence the latter’s decision in a pending case.
The Sandiganbayan earlier sentenced him to from six to 10 years imprisonment and perpetual disqualification from holding public office.
Associate Justices Alex Quiroz and Bayani Jacinto concurred with Cruz, in the four-page ruling dated January 27.
The case stemmed from how lawyer Jesus Santos supposedly asked Sabio to call his brother to influence a ruling on the case of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) versus Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).
Anti-graft probers indicted Sabio in 2016 and held that he tried to convince his brother to help the GSIS by ruling against a request for the issuance of a temporary restraining order that would favor Meralco.
In finding him guilty in 2019, the Sandiganbayan said: “Without a doubt, accused Sabio was persuaded to call Justice Sabio after he spoke on the phone with [Attorney] Santos, who asked for his help.”
“From the foregoing, the Court finds in this case that the prosecution established all the elements of the crime beyond reasonable doubt, and the evidence adduced are sufficient to support the conviction of the accused,” the ruling issued December 2019 read. — Kristine Joy Patag with reports from The STAR/Elizabeth Marcelo, Michael Punongbayan
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