Sandiganbayan: Nur Misuari to stand trial for graft, malversation

MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan has rejected the petition of Moro National Liberation Front founder Nur Misuari to dismiss the charges filed against him for graft and malversation through falsification of public documents.

The anti-graft court’s third division said Misuari should face trial over the alleged anomalous procurement of textbooks when he was governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

In a decision issued on Nov. 29 and released yesterday, the Sandiganbayan said the arguments that Misuari raised in his latest pleading are “evidentiary in nature and best threshed out in a full-blown trial.”

In his petition, Misuari said he is not liable for the procurement, claiming it was made during the administration of his successor Parouk Hussin in 2003 and 2004.

Misuari said he did not receive any money, adding that the demand for payment was made when he was no longer in office.

He said his supposed signatures in the  documents were forged.

Misuari also cited inordinate delay in the probe as it took 118 days for the Office of the Ombudsman to finish its preliminary investigation despite a 60-day limit set by the Sandiganbayan.

Misuari said it took four years and four months from the time the cases were brought to ombudsman for investigation before he was indicted.

However, the Sandiganbayan said it had earlier ruled that there was probable cause or sufficient reason to  proceed with the trial.

“There is... no need to discuss the accused’... arguments... at any great length,” the ruling penned by Presiding Justice and third division chairperson Amparo Cabotaje-Tang stated.

On the alleged delay in the probe, the Sandiganbayan said Misuari could not claim that his right to a speedy disposition of cases was violated since he did not know about the investigation while it was ongoing.

“It was not occasioned by any capricious, vexatious or oppressive delays,” the ruling read.

Associate Justices Bernelito Fernandez and Sarah Jane Fernandez concurred with the ruling.