SC clears 3 Sandigan justices of admin raps

MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court (SC) has cleared three Sandiganbayan justices of administrative charges filed by an engineer convicted of graft over the anomalous construction of the President Diosdado Macapagal Avenue in Pasay City.

In a ruling promulgated on Nov. 16, the high court dismissed the charges filed against Associate Justices Efren de la Cruz, Rafael Lagos and Rodolfo Ponferrada by Jesusito Legaspi.

The SC held that Legaspi’s allegations of gross ignorance of the law, partiality and rendering an unjust judgment against the magistrates lacked merit.

“The supposed errors that the three justices might have committed in taking judicial notice of and admitting as evidence the complainant’s affidavit are – at the most – errors of judgment that the complainant may raise through judicial remedies, such as a motion for reconsideration, appeal or petition for certiorari,” read the SC ruling.

“Such errors, even if they did occur, cannot be the basis for the charges made in the absence of bad faith on the part of the magistrates,” it added.

Legaspi was among the 13 accused found guilty by the justices of violating the anti-graft law involving the road project.

Legaspi filed the complaint after the justices took judicial notice of a sworn affidavit in 2002, which he previously submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman in a case against Sulpicio Tagud Jr. and Public Estates Authority assistant general manager Pelagio Lalap involving the construction of the Bay Boulevard project.

According to Legaspi, the same was the sole basis for his conviction.

He argued that the magistrates failed to appreciate that the subject affidavit refers not to the Seaside Drive Extension, which is completely different and unrelated to the road construction project involved in the case where he was convicted.