The Sandiganbayan Sixth Division junked the attempt of Uswag Ilonggo party-list Rep. James ‘Jojo’ Ang to dismiss one of his graft cases.
The anti-graft court also dismissed his plea to consolidate all of its 14 counts to a single division.
These decisions are the result of two resolutions penned by Associate Justice Sarah Jane Fernandez promulgated on Aug. 24 denying Ang’s motion to quash information and motion to consolidate.
In its case information, subject of the motion to quash, prosecutors alleged that Ang held prohibited financial interest in a government contract worth P8.1 million between the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and Allencon Development Corporation.
Ang purportedly owned 500 shares in the corporation.
Prosecutors said this violates Article VI, Section 14 of the 1987 Constitution which prohibits legislators from intervening in government matters for their pecuniary benefit.
Ang questioned Sandiganbayan’s jurisdiction as one of the grounds for his motion to quash, saying Republic Act No. 10660 provides that the Regional Trial Court should have jurisdiction where the information does not allege any damage to the government or any bribery.
The resolution noted that the information filed by prosecutors did not allege any pecuniary damage to the government and neither did it allege that the damage is not quantifiable.
However, the resolution noted that the lawmakers’ deliberations for the Republic Act No. 10660, or the law which reorganized the Sandiganbayan, intends to retain the jurisdiction of the anti-graft court in cases where the information alleges unquantifiable damage to the government.
‘Such non-mention of any amount of damage to the government, coupled with the accusation that the alleged prohibited act was done in violation of the Constitution and in contravention of public policy, would indicate that the resultant damage alleged in the Information is unquantifiable,’ the 13-page resolution stated.
‘The crime charged in the present case is, thus, one which the Congress intended to remain under the exclusive original jurisdiction of the Sandiganbayan,’ it added.
As for his motion to consolidate the case, Fernandez also penned a separate resolution denying this.
The lawmaker, citing the 2018 Revised Internal Rules of the Sandiganbayan, wanted to consolidate the cases to the Second Division which got the lowest docket case number.
Ang argued that the cases involve common questions of fact and law that should be jointly tried before the division where the case bearing the lowest docket number is pending.
He added that there is a strong possibility that different court divisions might arrive at different and conflicting resolutions on the cases pending before them.
The resolution noted that all 14 counts of graft arose from the same Resolution of the Office of the Ombudsman, each involving a project awarded by the DPWH to Allencon where accused Ang was allegedly a stockholder.
‘Although the said cases appear to be similar in nature, it is undeniable that each case involves a project separate and distinct from the others,’ the five-page resolution said.
‘Thus, it is improbable that there will be conflicting rulings on factual matters,’ it added, further noting that ‘consolidation will merely cause delay.’