Lito Lapid seeks dismissal of graft case

Senator Lito Lapid has asked the Sandiganbayan to dismiss the graft case filed against him in connection with his alleged involvement in the fertilizer fund scam, citing the Office of the Ombudsman’s "inordinate delay" in filing the case.

"The delay in the resolution of the criminal complaint and the eventual filing of the information works to the serious prejudice of Senator Lapid and affects his ability to fully defend himself in court," Lapid's 25-page motion, submitted to the First Division last Friday, said.

Lapid, through his legal counsel, pointed out that it took the Ombudsman’s Field Investigation Office five years, or from 2006 to 2011, to file a complaint against him.

He said while the Ombudsman has already made a resolution on the complaint in 2014, it sat on the matter for another year before it formally filed the case with the Sandiganbayan on October 8, 2015.

Lapid said the inordinate delay of the Ombudsman in the resolution of the complaint and the filing of the case has "violated his constitutional rights to due process and speedy disposition of cases," thus would warrant the case's dismissal.

Lapid cited a previous ruling by the Supreme Court (Tatad vs. Sandiganbayan) when it dismissed a case against a public official for a delay of more than three years by the Ombudsman in filing the case.

"Senator Lapid’s right to be heard is rendered sham… Witnesses that could have been available by that time that may shed further light on the transactions in question thus exonerating the accused may no longer be available, if not compromised,” Lapid said in his motion.

"Even if they are available, it is a truism that memories are frail and that memories fade. Further, there is a probability of documentary evidence being lost or destroyed," it added.

Lapid further claimed that the Ombudsman, during the preliminary investigation on the complaint, had also refused to furnish him with the complete records of the case, depriving him the right to prepare the best counter-evidence.

"It is basic in constitutional law that in criminal proceedings, due process requires giving the respondent or the accused a chance to rebut the allegations made against him… In this case, Senator Lapid was only deprived of his right to confront the allegations against him, but he was also denied of his discovery of remedies during the preliminary investigation," the petition read.

"Such prosecutorial misconduct was classified by the Supreme Court as a significant erosion of the accused's or respondent's constitutional right to due process," it added.

Lapid and his five co-accused are facing a case of violation of Sections 3 (e) and 3 (g) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for the alleged anomalous purchase of overpriced liquid fertilizers amounting to P4.761 million.

Based on the information of the case filed by the Office of the Ombudsman, the purchase was made without holding a public bidding. The Ombudsman further alleged that the purchased items were overpriced by as much as P4.268 million.

The offense was allegedly committed by Lapid and his co-accused sometime in May 2004 during his term as Pampanga governor.

The money for the purchase of the questioned items supposedly came from the P728-million funds of the Department of Agriculture for its "Ginintuang Masaganang Ani Program."

The fund for the DA program, which aimed to extend agricultural assistance for poor farmers, were allegedly diverted as campaign kitty of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for 2004 elections.

However, in his motion, Lapid maintained that there was no overpricing for the purchase of the questioned items as there was supposedly no cheaper substitute available in the market at the time of the purchase.

"Likewise, there was no overpricing in the purchase of Macro-Micro Foliar Fertilizers…As clearly shown above, there was no suitable substitute for the Macro-Micro Foliar Fertilizers purchase by the Provincial Government of Pampanga. Thus, the allegation in the information [of the case] that the fertilizers purchased were overpriced is not supported by records," Lapid said.

Lapid said that with the supposed "inordinate delay" and "lack of probable cause," the case against him should be dismissed outright.

He also asked the First Division to defer his scheduled arraignment on January 14 until his motion to dismiss the case is resolved. —KBK, GMA News