Graft raps vs. Marina Sula dismissed due to inordinate delay

The Sandiganbayan on Monday dismissed due to inordinate delay the graft charge against state witness Marina Sula in connection with her alleged involvement in the fertilizer fund scam.

In a 10-page resolution, the Fifth Division approved the motion to dismiss the charge saying Sula has been deprived of her right for a speedy trial since it took almost 12 years for her case to push through.

"The delay of more than a decade runs afoul of the Constitutional protection afforded by the right to speedy disposition of cases. More than ten years to investigate a case is unreasonable even under the circumstances extant in the case at bar," the anti-graft court said.

"From the foregoing, by itself, the time that this case spent pending preliminary investigation with the Ombudsman already reeks of inordinate delay," it added.

The case stemmed from the allegedly anomalous procurement of P3.2-million worth of liquid fertilizers from the Masaganang Ani Para sa Magsasaka Foundation Inc. in 2004 without public bidding.

Sula's co-accused in the case include then-Department of Agriculture officer-in-charge Regional Technical Director Rodolfo Guieb and Regional Executive Director Dennis Araullo, and former Palawan Governor Joel Reyes. All of their cases have been earlier dismissed by the Sandiganbayan.

In her motion, Sula argued that the alleged offense occurred sometime in 2004 but the criminal complaint was only filed before the Office of the Ombudsman in April 2011, or seven years after the alleged crime took place.

The Ombudsman then filed the case at the Sandiganbayan in September 2016, or more than a decade since the alleged acts were committed.

Sula, one of the whistleblowers of the multi-billion pork barrel fund scam, further said she cannot be the sole respondent in the case since her co-accused were already acquitted.

The prosecution, in its comment, noted that the delay in the case is "attributable to the ordinary processes of justice and was even necessary and beneficial for the accused to be afforded due process of law."

However, the Sandiganbayan said the arguments of the prosecution not only "undermine the right to speedy disposition, it also belittles the prejudice caused by the prolonged pendency" of the case.

"The psychological, financial and emotional burden on the accused to be a respondent to a criminal complaint for so many years, likewise, cannot be taken lightly," the resolution read. —KG/KVD, GMA News