Sandigan dismisses JV Ejercito's graft case

MANILA, Philippines — After only a few months of trial, the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division has ruled to dismiss the graft case against on-leave Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito in connection with the P2.1 million high-powered firearms purchase during his term as the mayor of San Juan in 2008.

 

In a 45-page resolution promulgated on Thursday, the Fifth Division granted the demurrer to evidence filed by Ejercito in September.

 

In his demurrer, Ejercito sought the dismissal of the case halfway through the trial, based solely on the evidence presented by the prosecution.

 

In granting Ejercito's demurrer, the anti-graft court said the prosecution failed to prove that the senator and his co-accused gave unwarranted benefit and advantage to supplier HK Tactical Defense System, Inc. (HKTDSI) when it awarded to the company the contract for the purchase of sub-machine guns.

 

Based on the information of the cases filed by the Ombudsman in March of this year, the firearms purchased by San Juan government from HKTDSI included three units of Daewoo K2 cal. 5.56mm sub-machine guns and 17 units of DAEWOO model K1 cal. 5.56mm sub-machines guns in the total amount of P2.1million.

 

The Ombudsman said the accused resorted to a specific brand of firearms which was in violation of government procurement laws and was aimed to benefit HKTDSI and disqualify other interested bidders.

 

The Ombudsman said the items were also allegedly purchased using the city government's calamity fund despite having no state of calamity at that time.

 

“As to accused Ejercito, there is no evidence, testimonial or documentary, offered by the prosecution to prove that he specified or pre-selected the DAEWOO brand. Even if the prosecution argues that Ejercito approved Ordinance Nos. 9 and 10 which specified DAEWOO brand, the same argument will exculpate Ejercito as the latter also approved Ordinance No. 19, which expressly did away with specific branding,” the ruling penned by Fifth Division Chairman Associate Justice Roland Jurado read.

 

Associate Justices Rafael Lagos and Maria Theresa Mendoza-Arcega concurred in the ruling.

 

The court further said government prosecutors also failed to prove that Ejercito used his position to pressure or influence his co-accused members of the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) to pre-select the DAEWOO branded firearms.

 

“Ejercito did not even approve the IAEB (Invitation to Apply for Eligibility to Bid) for the said firearms as he merely 'noted' said document... More importantly, the fact alone that HKTDSI was the only bidder should not evoke wonder or speculation about the result of the bidding,” the court said.

 

Lastly, the court said the prosecution also failed to show that the purchase of the firearms has caused undue injury to the government, an essential element for the crime of graft.

 

“Regarding the essential element of undue injury which was allegedly cause to the government, the Court is of the considered view that none obtains in the instant case. The amount of P2,100,000.00 paid for the purchase of the subject firearms was well within the allocated budget of P2,100,000.00,” the ruling read.

 

“If the alleged existence of undue injury were based on any allusion of overpricing, the Court finds the same to be deficient,” it added.

 

The court, meanwhile, refused to discuss the supposed use of the city's calamity fund for the purchased of the questioned items, saying that it is the subject of the technical malversation case that Ejercito is facing in another division of the anti-graft court.

 

The court also acquitted Ejercito's co-accused, namely city administrator Ranulfo Dacalos, city legal officer Romualdo Delos Santos, former city treasurer Rosalinda Marasigan, former city budget officer Lorenza Ching and former city engineer Danilo Mercado.

 

Following the dismissal of the case, the Fifth Division also lifted the suspension order it earlier issued against Ejercito and his co-accused incumbent officials of San Juan.

 

It was in July of this year when the graft trial of Ejercito and his co-accused commenced. The senator filed a demurrer to evidence in September after the prosecution finished its presentation of evidence.

 

The trial of Ejercito's technical malversation case before the Sandiganbayan Sixth Division is ongoing. The case is still in connection with the firearms purchase.