Supreme Court (File photo) MANILA -The Supreme Court (SC) dismissed for lack of merit a petition filed by former Optical Media Board (OMB) chairperson and chief executive officer Ronald "Ronnie" Ricketts seeking the dismissal of graft charges against him before the Sandiganbayan. The charges stemmed from Ricketts' alleged failure to charge those arrested for possession of pirated digital video discs (DVDs) and video compact discs (VCDs) during a raid in Quiapo, Manila in 2010. In a resolution promulgated in November and shared online Tuesday, the Court's First Division affirmed the 2017 resolutions of Sandiganbayan's Fourth Division that denied Ricketts' motion for leave of court to file a demurrer to evidence. A demurrer seeks the dismissal of a case by questioning the sufficiency of the evidence presented to support the charges. Following the decision of the Sandiganbayan to deny the motion for leave to file a demurrer, the SC ruled that Ricketts' proper
Sandiganbayan (File photo) MANILA - The Sandiganbayan turned down the plea of former Maguindanao governor Datu Sajid Islam Uy Ampatuan to dismiss the charges against him over alleged irregularities in agrarian projects in 2009. The anti-graft court's Third Division denied for lack of merit the motion for reconsideration filed by Ampatuan's lawyers on March 8. Ampatuan claimed he suffered mental anguish and had been prejudiced by the undue delay in the prosecution of the cases for malversation and violation of Republic Act No. 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) regarding alleged irregularities in 22 projects of farm-to-market roads worth PHP500 million in 2009. Ampatuan claimed that since he was detained in 2009, the police and the military took over the provincial capitol and seized all records which he claimed are "crucial to refute the claims against him". In 2015, the Field Investigation Office of the Office of the Ombudsman finished its inquiry and filed
Sandiganbayan The Sandiganbayan has denied the motion filed by former Maguindanao Gov. Datu Sajid Islam Uy Ampatuan to dismiss his graft and malversation charges due to the "unreasonable length of time" it took the prosecution to file the cases in court. Ampatuan has been charged with violation
Published February 5, 2021 5:48pm The Sandiganbayan has ordered retired military Lieutenant General Jacinto Ligot, his wife Erlinda, their three children and two other members of his immediate family members to return P102 million of their ill-gotten assets to the government. In a 70-page ruling, the anti-graft court said P102 million of the Ligot’s family assets were ill-gotten wealth because the P102 million worth of their wealth did not match Ligot’s lawful income from 2001 to 2004 which only amounted to P2.8 million. “In 1982, General Ligot had a net worth of P105,000 based on his SALN (Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth). By 2003, he declared a net worth of P3.248 million. Yet, as the evidence shows, he was able to acquire the above listed properties with a total cost of P108,154,832.95 million which he did not declare in his SALNs for 1982 to 2003,” the Sandiganbayan said.