Sandiganbayan told to hear graft case vs Lapid

THE Supreme Court has ordered the country”s anti-graft court to hear a corruption case against Senator Manuel “Lito” M. Lapid for approving the purchase of fertilizer without public bidding when he was still Pampanga governor in 2004.

In a 13-page decision dated Aug. 19 and released only on Tuesday, the court’s second division ordered the Sandiganbayan to “resolve the case with reasonable dispatch.”

The Sandiganbayan had gravely abused its discretion when it dismissed the case against Mr. Lapid and three others due to inordinate delay, the high tribunal said.

In reversing the Sandiganbayan’s ruling, the high court noted that there had been no allegations that the graft complaint against the respondents were politically motivated.

The Sandiganbayan in September 2016 dismissed the criminal case against Mr. Lapid because his right to a speedy disposition of the case had been violated.

“No such delay attended the Ombudsman’s proceedings that would warrant the dismissal of the criminal case against herein correspondents,” the high court said. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas