Court of Appeals rejects PIATCO official’s plea to stop DOJ case against him

Gil Camacho, one of Piatco's board of directors, sought the issuance of a temporary restraining order and a writ of preliminary injunction against Justice Secretary Leila de Lima. 

 

The CA stressed it is "established doctrine" that injunctions should not be used to enjoin criminal prosecution because "public interest requires that criminal acts be immediately investigated and prosecuted for the protection of the society."

 

While the Supreme Court had enumerated circumstance when one can become exempted from this doctrine, the CA ruled: "None of these circumstances above is extant in this case."

 

The appeals court added: "The grounds raised by the petitioners are intricately intertwined with the main issue in the petition, hence, courts are proscribed from extending such reliefs as this has the unwitting result of passing upon the merits of the main action without trial."

 

Case history

 

Apart from De Lima, also named respondents in Gil's petition were the Office of the Prosecutor General, the National Bureau of Investigation Anti-Fraud and Computer Crimes Division, Jose Bernas, and Melanio Elvis Balayan.

 

The Office of the Chief State Prosecutor (now the Office of the Prosecutor General) earlier recommended the filing of charges against Camacho through resolutions dated March 15, 2007 and October 16, 2007. 

 

Camacho's motion for reconsideration was also eventually denied on May 22, 2013.

 

Saying the charges were baseless and that his right to due process would be violated, Camacho went up to De Lima and filed a petition for review to reverse the earlier DOJ rulings, but his plea was denied once more on January 21, 2011. This prompted Camacho to elevate the matter to the CA.

 

PIATCO and German transport company Fraport AG had an agreement with the Philippine government for the establishment of the Ninoy Aquino Terminal 3 (NAIA-3), classified as a "nationalized activity."

 

Under Article XII of the the 1987 Constitution, and Section 1 of Presidential Decree No. 715, or the Anti-Dummy Law, a Philippine corporation involved in a national activity must have an outstanding capital where 60 percent is owned by Filipino citizens. 

 

In the establishment of the NAIA-3, only 40-percent foreign equity is allowed, "the 60-percent being reserved by the Constitution to Filipino citizens." 

 

In a resolution promulgated in January 2011, the DOJ said: "In this specific case, corporate officers of Fraport and PIATCO are being made criminally answerable for allowing Fraport to use Philippine corporations as fronts to conceal the extent of its actual investment of shareholdings in PIATCO."  — ELR/KG, GMA News