Danding wants graft raps dropped

Industrialist Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco Jr. asked the Sandiganbayan yesterday to immediately dismiss a graft case filed by the government against him and five other people, saying the anti-graft court violated their constitutional right to a speedy trial.

In a 47-page consolidated motion, Cojuangco, through lawyers Estelito Mendoza and Alberto Valenzuela Jr., also sought the reversal of a ruling handed down by Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Francis Garchitorena who earlier denied Cojuangco’s motion to drop the case.

In filing the latest motion, Cojuangco noted that it took the Sandiganbayan’s first division chaired by Garchitorena five years to resolve his motion to dismiss the case leveled against him by the government in 1992.

The others cited as respondents in the case were Ma. Clara Lobregat, now mayor of Zamboanga City; Rolando de la Cuesta, Hermenegildo Zayco, Jose Eleazar and former Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) administrator Felix Dueñas.

The respondents were accused of conspiracy in giving "unwarranted benefits to the Philippine Coconut Producers Federation (Cocofed), a private entity, by unlawfully extending financial assistance to the company amounting to P2 million."

The prosecutors claimed that Cojuangco’s group took the P2 million from the special funds of the PCA in 1984.

As early as February 1995, the respondents sought the dismissal of the suit claiming state prosecutors failed to substantiate their charges.

On Oct. 22, 1997, the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) issued a resolution recommending dismissal of the case.

Ombudsman Aniano Desierto approved the OSP recommendation in a resolution handed down on Nov. 15 of the same year.

The following month, the Sandiganbayan deemed the OSP recommendation submitted for resolution, but the anti-graft court failed to hand down any decision regarding the case until now, despite a series of motions to dismiss filed by the respondents.

This prompted Cojuangco to elevate the case to the Supreme Court (SC) with a petition to prohibit the Sandiganbayan to further take cognizance of the case and immediately order its dismissal.

On Dec. 21, 1998, the SC directed the Sandiganbayan to "proceed with the resolution of pending motions and incidents in his (Cojuangco’s) case with utmost dispatch."

It appeared, however, that the anti-graft court failed to heed the SC ruling, and denied Cojuangco’ motion to dismiss two years later.

In rejecting Cojuangco’s petition, Garchitorena ruled that there was an "apparent undue injury caused by the accused to the government and the corresponding benefit to the private party favored by the donation."

The High Tribunal, in an order issued on Nov. 28, slapped Garchitorena with indefinite suspension, plus a fine of P20,000 for gross negligence of duty.

The administrative sanctions came upon a complaint filed by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, the largest association of lawyers in the country, arising from delays in the resolution of more than 130 graft cases pending in his sala.