By NITZ ARANCON
Correspondent .
THE 2nd Division of the Sandiganbayan has trashed former mayor Constantino Jaraula’s motion to quash the information pertaining to a 2014 graft case filed by the Office of the Ombudsman against him in connection with the so-called fertilizer fund scam during the Arroyo administration.
The anti-graft court’s ruling, dated Nov. 5, was signed by Associate Justices Lorifel Pahimna, Oscar Herrera Jr. and Michael Frederick Musngi.
The filing of the case against Jaraula was approved by the then ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales based on the outcome of an investigation on the use of P3 million of his pork barrel allocation when he was a congressman.
The ombudsman has accused Jaraula of violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and malversation of public funds in violation of Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code because of his dealings with the Department of Agriculture and the Philippine Social Development Foundation Inc. (PDSFI), a non-government organization linked to alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles, from Dec. 23, 2003 to July 4, 2004.
The allegation is that Jaraula conspired with DA officials and PDSFI supposedly to buy fertilizer for farmer-beneficiaries who turned out to be non-existent.
Jaraula filed a “consolidated motion to quash information” on Aug. 24, 2018 even as he accused the ombudsman of violating his constitutional rights because of its failure to ensure the speedy disposition of his case.
But in a 13-page ruling, the Sandiganbayan noted that Jaraula failed to present evidence that the ombudsman deprived him of that right.
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