The Sandiganbayan has once again deferred and rescheduled the arraignment and pre-trial of former Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi and several others to January 16 next year in connection with the 2019 takeover of the Malampaya gas project.
The anti-graft court’s Third Division announced the deferment during a session Friday, citing three motions to quash the amended information filed by Cusi’s legal team and other respondents.
Their motion was filed in response to the prosecution’s urgent motion to amend the criminal information, which the court granted on Oct. 1 – the same day Cusi and others were first scheduled to be arraigned, but the proceeding was deferred.
Of all the respondents, only Cusi was absent from the courtroom. His lawyer initially explained that Cusi’s senior counsel, Atty. Ruy Rondain – who also serves as the legal counsel of former Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Elizaldy Co – had advised him not to attend, saying his presence was no longer necessary due to a pending motion to quash filed by his camp.
However, the lawyer later retracted her statement, prompting the court to order Cusi to explain his absence himself.
The charges against the former energy secretary stem from their alleged involvement in facilitating the sale of a 45-percent stake in the Malampaya gas project to a company owned by Davao businessman Dennis Uy.
Before the previous deferment on Oct. 1, Cusi and 10 other former and current Department of Energy (DOE) officials each posted bail of P90,000 for their graft charges Sept. 10.
Last August, the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) confirmed that its then vice chairperson, Cusi, had been indicted by the Office of the Ombudsman over the Malampaya project.
PDP-Laban deputy spokesperson Ferdinand Topacio earlier said that one count of graft had been filed against Cusi and several others before the Sandiganbayan.
The Ombudsman’s investigation into DOE officials began in 2022, following a Senate committee on energy report on the sale of shares in the Malampaya project.
According to the report, the DOE allegedly expedited the approval of the $545-million sale of a 45-percent stake in Malampaya to UC Malampaya, despite the buyer’s failure to pass the financial capability test or submit audited financial statements.
While the Ombudsman initially dismissed the graft complaint in 2022 for lack of evidence, it reversed its decision in 2024 and found probable cause to indict Cusi and several DOE officials.
Cusi was also recently affirmed by the Supreme Court as the legitimate president of PDP-Laban, the political party of former President Rodrigo Duterte.