Sandiganbayan junks graft case vs DILG Usec Mabilog
MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan Third Division has junked the graft case against Interior Undersecretary Jed Patrick Mabilog due to “inordinate delay,” as it took government prosecutors more than seven years to file the case in the anti-graft court after it received a complaint against him.
This developed after Associate Justice Karl Miranda, Third Division chair, granted the motion to quash filed by Mabilog on Oct. 10, 2024, according to the resolution promulgated on Wednesday, Aug. 12.
According to the case information filed by the Office of the Ombudsman prosecutors, Mabilog, then Iloilo City mayor, was charged with graft over having an alleged direct financial or pecuniary interest in creating 3L Towering Services.
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Mabilog allegedly contributed P500,000 as initial capital for 3L Towering Services, which was eventually hired by the local government of Iloilo City to undertake clamping or towing of illegally parked vehicles within its jurisdiction purportedly without competitive process, according to prosecutors.
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In his motion to quash, Mabilog argued that the case information did not allege facts constituting an offense, and his constitutional right to speedy disposition was violated.
On the first point, the court ruled that “the information sufficiently alleges facts constituting the offense charged.”
As to his second argument, the ruling said: “As the Office of the Ombudsman has failed to discharge its burden of justifying the delay, the only appropriate and lawful remedy is the immediate and permanent dismissal of the present case against Mabilog.”
A complaint-affidavit against Mabilog was lodged before the Office of the Ombudsman on April 23, 2015, but the prosecutors only filed the case information in the Sandiganbayan on May 19, 2022.
The court noted that there was a total lapse of seven years, 10 months, and seven days from the filing of complaint up to the filing of the case in the anti-graft court. /cb
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