Sandiganbayan allows Lanao Rep. Dimaporo to post bail

The Sandiganbayan Second Division has allowed Lanao Del Norte Representative Abdullah Dimaporo to post bail for a malversation through falsification of public documents case, citing a recent decision by the Supreme Court (SC).

In a four-page resolution promulgated on March 10, a copy of which was released to the media on Friday, the Second Division said the SC has already ruled with finality that an accused charged with a complex crime of malversation through falsification of public documents must now be granted bail “as a matter of right” without undergoing a bail proceedings.

“In precise and in no uncertain terms, it (SC) has expressly ruled that an accused charged with the complex crime of Malversation of Public Funds through Falsification of Official/Public Documents…is entitled to bail as a matter of right and a summary hearing on bail application is, therefore, unnecessary,” the Second Division’s ruling read.

The Second Division was referring to a December 8, 2015 ruling of the SC upholding the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division’s resolution allowing former Bacolod City mayor Luzviminda Valdez to post bail from a complex crime of malversation through falsification of public documents.

The case against Valdez stemmed from her alleged padding of reimbursement claims by P274,306 by supposedly forging receipts.

On February 16, the SC has ruled with finality that Valdez should be allowed to post bail for the crime by denying the motion for reconsideration of the Ombudsman’s Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).

“Indeed, the grant of bail to the accused-movant on the basis of the latest Decision of the Supreme Court, is favorable to him (Dimaporo) and hence, any action leaning towards that end should be immediately given impetus and full force and effect,” the Second Division said.

Dimaporo is facing graft and malversation through falsification of public documents cases before the Second Division in connection with his alleged involvement in the P728-million fertilizer fund scam in 2004.

Based on the information of the cases filed by the OSP in October 2012, Dimaporo, during his term of congressman of Lanao Del Norte, approved the allocation of P5 million to the Lanao Foundation Inc. (LFI), a non-government organization he formed in 1994.

The fund was for the supposed purchase of 10,000 bags of organic fertilizers under the Department of Agriculture’s Farm Inputs and Farm Implement Program.

The OSP alleged that no delivery was made by LFI to the provincial government or to the intended beneficiaries of the program. Instead, the OSP said, the purchase and delivery receipts were faked by Dimaporo and his co-accused.

The Second Division had earlier denied Dimaporo and his co-accused’s respective motions to post bail for the malversation through falsification of public documents case.

Graft, meanwhile, is considered a bailable offense.

In its new ruling, the Second Division set P200,000 bail bond for the malversation through falsification of public documents case. Meanwhile, the recommended bail bond for graft was P30,000.

Earlier this week, another division of the Sandiganbayan has also granted bail to former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Avelino Razon Jr, former PNP NCRPO director Geary Barias and 13 other individuals also on the ground of the recent SC ruling.

Razon, Barias and 13 of their co-accused are facing graft and malversation through falsification of public documents charges in connection with the alleged anomalous repair of PNP armored vehicles in 2007 worth P385.5 million. -NB, GMA News