THE Supreme Court’s First Division has junked the petition filed by three police officials seeking the reversal of the resolutions issued by the Office of the Ombudsman, which found probable cause to file graft and malversation through falsification of public documents charges against them in connection with the P409.7 million “ghost repairs” of…
THE Supreme Court’s First Division has junked the petition filed by three police officials seeking the reversal of the resolutions issued by the Office of the Ombudsman, which found probable cause to file graft and malversation through falsification of public documents charges against them in connection with the P409.7 million “ghost repairs” of 28 light armored vehicles used by the Special Action Force and the Regional Mobile Group of the Philippine National Police .
On the other hand, Fuentes, a supply accountable officer of the LSS, is accused of accepting the purported equipment and materials and certifying that they were received in good order and condition, while Espina, a former acting chief of the Management Division, is accused of processing payments for the bidders without exercising due diligence to ensure that the procedures in the procurements were faithfully observed.
The Court gave weight to the claim of the Office of the Solicitor-General that Duque was afforded due process because he was given the chance to be heard in a motion for reconsideration when he filed an Omnibus Motion for Reconsideration and Motion for Reinvestigation dated February 4, 2013. But the SC stressed that the findings of forgery during preliminary investigation should be ventilated in a full-blown trial, because the duty to determine the authenticity of a signature rests on the judge who is mandated to conduct an independent examination of the signature in order to arrive at a reasonable conclusion as to its authenticity.