Sandigan affirms guilty verdict on Ampatuan

The Sandiganbayan has affirmed its previous verdict of convicting former Maguindanao governor Sajid Ampatuan on eight charges of graft and falsification of public documents, declaring the decision “final” and “immutable.”

This, after Ampatuan’s motion for reconsideration was denied due course for lack of merit by the anti-graft court in an 8-page resolution promulgated on 10 March but only uploaded on its website on Tuesday.

Criminal charges against Ampatuan arose from the alleged ghost construction projects in 2009 during his tenure as governor.

The cases involve a total of P22.364 million in anomalous infrastructure projects such as farm-to-market roads and ghost fuel purchases from a gasoline station allegedly owned by his brother, Andal Ampatuan Jr.

He was sentenced to six to eight years in prison for each count of graft conviction and another two to six years for each count of falsification of public documents conviction or a total of 112 years imprisonment.

The Sandiganbayan ordered his arrest after he failed to attend the promulgation of the decision on 13 January — the same grounds the court rendered to turn down his plea.

In his motion, Ampatuan argued that the prosecution failed to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and the evidence presented against him did not sufficiently establish all the elements for violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and falsification of public documents.

However, the anti-graft court countered that Ampatuan had lost the remedies available under the Rules of Court when he failed to appear, without justifiable cause, at the promulgation of the earlier judgment, despite the denial of his motion to reset.

In short, Ampatuan’s failure to regain his standing in court made his case “final” and “immutable.”

“Only upon compliance with these requirements under Section 6, Rule 1201, with proof that his absence was for a justifiable cause, that he shall be allowed to avail of the remedies under the Rules of the Court within another 15-day period from notice,” the resolution read.

In a separate resolution dated 29 May, the Sandiganbayan also turned down another plea by Ampatuan on the grounds that he failed to attend the promulgation on 5 May.

The court likewise affirmed its order to issue an arrest warrant against him.

PHOTOGRAPH BY KING RODRIGUEZ FOR THE DAILY TRIBUNE A PETROLEUM firm staff fills a gas station’s underground tank with 10 kilograms of gasoline as part of product calibration in compliance with national petroleum requirements in Makati City yesterday, 30 May.