Sandigan affirms JV’s graft acquittal

MANILA, Philippines - The anti-graft court has affirmed the acquittal of Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito  from graft charges over the alleged anomalous use of calamity funds for the purchase of high-powered firearms when he was still mayor of San Juan City.

The Sandiganbayan Fifth Division, in a five-page resolution promulgated on Monday, denied the motion for reconsideration filed by state prosecutors, saying, “the prosecution... failed to show how the court erred in its judicial discretion about granting Ejercito’s demurrer to evidence.”

The court also noted that the prosecution’s motion for reconsideration “failed to address the crux” behind the grant of demurrer, which is that Ejercito had no role in the resort to specific branding of the firearms and that there was no undue injury to government.

The resolution was penned by Associate Justice Rafael Lagos noted.

In its motion for reconsideration, the Office of the Special Prosecutor maintained that the Office of the Ombudsman was able to prove that Ejercito gave unwarranted benefit to firearms supplier HK Tactical Defense System Inc. (HKTDSI).

The prosecution said the HKTDSI submitted eligibility and pre-qualification documents in March 2008 already containing the project reference number, even though this was only made available to the public in April 2008.

It said the court erred in not considering the fact that details for the firearms were already published even though there was no request made to purchase firearms.

The purchase request was approved by Ejercito in May 2008, even though the invitation to apply for eligibility and to bid was published earlier or on April 2008.

The prosecution said the court erred in ruling that post-qualification may be done away with in cases of a lone bidder.

The prosecution also said the court failed to cite a provision in Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act that would allow lone bidders to be awarded a project without undergoing the post-qualification stage, or the proceeding to verify and validate documents submitted by the bidder.