The Supreme Court (SC) has upheld the dismissal of a complaint filed against a former municipal mayor as it did not want to interfere with the Ombudsman in the absence of a clear case of grave abuse of discretion.
The high court upheld the 2019 dismissal of the malversation of funds and violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act charges against Teodorico Padilla Jr., a former mayor of Santa Fe, Nueva Vizcaya.
The case was elevated to the SC by the complainant, Porfirio Yasay Jr., after the Court of Appeals (CA) ruled against him in February 2020.
The complainant claimed that Padilla unlawfully caused and approved the transfer without cost of a coffee equipment belonging to the municipality to a private entity, of which the ex-mayor was the chief executive officer.
The alleged transfer of the coffee dehuller, roasting machine, and grinder, Yasay alleged, was done without cost to favor the Nueva VIzcaya Yacon Producers Association Inc. (NVYPAI).
A property acknowledgment receipt, with NVYPAI represented by Carmelita Pugsons receiving the three equipment from the municipal agriculturist, was presented as evidence.
However, there was no other document presented showing how the transfer without cost was actually effected.
In its ruling, the Ombudsman said nothing in the property acknowledgment receipt for equipment showed that the ownership over the equipment was transferred in favor of NVYPAI.
It added that the municipal government remains the owner of the equipment, the equipment was subsequently returned to the municipality, and the transfer of custodianship was necessitated by and in line with programs under the Municipal Agricultural Office.
The court added that “though a finding of probable cause is regarded as preliminary, this should not deter the Ombudsman from dismissing the complaint and disallowing the case to proceed any further on the ground that from every indication, the case has no leg to stand on.”
Source: Philippines News Agency
