Marcoleta case may set record for speedy disposition
MANILA, Philippines — Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said on Friday that the plunder case against Sen. Rodante Marcoleta could set a record for the speed of its disposition.
Remulla made the remark after the Ombudsman’s special prosecutors completed the presentation of their evidence before the Sandiganbayan Third Division on the first day of the plunder trial last week.
Marcoleta was charged with plunder for accepting an alleged P75 million donation while sitting as a party-list lawmaker. His co-accused involved his donors, former Rep. Mike Defensor, and businessmen Joseph Espiritu and Aristotle Viray.
READ: Marcoleta enters not guilty plea in plunder case over alleged gifts
“When he asked for a bail hearing, we thought it best to present all our evidence immediately,” Remulla said in a press conference. “We rested our case already, which means it’s his turn to present evidence in the next hearings.”
Remulla said the prosecution’s presentation of evidence was fast because “everything [was] admitted” by Marcoleta in his TV program where he said “friends” gave him campaign contributions in exchange of keeping their identities anonymous.
READ: Marcoleta won’t seek temporary release to vote on impeachment threshold
“So there’s only one question: whether or not he committed plunder, and that’s what we have presented before the court,” Remulla said.
“The evidence, we don’t really have to prove many of them, but we just have to remind the court that these records exist, these admissions are there … there was no rebuttal,” he continued. “I mean, even the cross-examinations did not yield anything.”
Remulla noted that it only took more than three months for special prosecutors to finish its presentation of evidence on Oct. 8 from the time it filed the case on July 3.
He said they expect Marcoleta’s camp to present their evidence within that time frame.
“We might be breaking records here, especially if the Sandiganbayan will really do its job, in less than one year, a case could be done,” he said.
Remulla noted that some of the anti-graft cases reach up to 15 years.
“The gestation period of cases … when I look at the cases in PDAF (Presidential Development Assistance Fund), and you look at the cases of fertilizer funds scam, you have to look at the cases that were filed in the past, most of the time, they reach up to 15 years,” he said.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
