Ex-Muntinlupa mayor’s bid to dismiss graft rap denied

MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan has dismissed the petition of former Muntinlupa mayor Aldrin San Pedro to have his graft case dismissed over what he described as inordinate delays on the part of the Office of the Ombudsman in finishing its investigation and filing the complaint in court.

In a resolution promulgated on July 15, the anti-graft court’s Second Division denied San Pedro’s motion to dismiss the graft charge, which stemmed from the allegedly anomalous procurement of fire trucks amounting to P97.52 million from 2008 to 2009.

The court also dismissed a similar motion filed by San Pedro’s co-defendant, Angel Palmiery, general manager of Palmer-Asia Inc.

The Second Division found no merit in the argument of San Pedro and Palmiery that the ombudsman committed inordinate delays and violated their constitutional right to speedy resolution of the case when it took the anti-graft agency six years or from 2012 to 2018 to resolve the complaint filed against them.

San Pedro’s camp said the ombudsman took another three years to file the case in court on Nov. 23, 2021.

The Second Division pointed out that while the complaint-affidavit was filed against San Pedro and Palmiery in 2012 by private complainant Abel Sumabat, it was only in May 2016 when the ombudsman’s Field Investigation Office (FIO) lodged a case against them.

The FIO’s complaint prompted the ombudsman’s central office to conduct the preliminary investigation, the Sandiganbayan pointed out.

The court noted that from the start of the investigation, it took the ombudsman only two years to resolve the complaint as proven by the issuance of a resolution dated June 28, 2018, which was approved by then ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, finding probable cause to indict San Pedro and Palmiery in court.

The Second Division found merit in the explanation of the ombudsman’s prosecution panel that the case was not immediately filed before the Sandiganbayan because the motions for reconsideration filed by San Pedro and Palmiery had to be resolved first.

The prosecution also explained that Morales retired in July 2018.

Her successor, former ombudsman Samuel Martires, had to review the records before he issued an order in August 2019 to proceed with the filing of the case.

The prosecution also cited the strict restrictions imposed amid the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, which hampered the filing of cases in courts.

The case filed against San Pedro stemmed from the Muntinlupa government’s procurement of three fire trucks and an aerial ladder truck from Palmer-Asia through a loan term with the Land Bank of the Philippines.

The ombudsman said P97.52 million was paid to Palmer-Asia in four tranches on July 27 and Dec. 15, 2008 and Jan. 27 and March 16, 2009 even when the vehicles were not yet delivered to the city government at the time.

Ombudsman prosecutors said it was only on July 16, 2012 and Nov. 25, 2014 when the fire trucks and aerial ladder truck were registered under the city government, respectively.