Sandigan junks falsification raps vs former DPWH official Edson C. Tandoc Jr. Philippine Daily Inquirer
November 04, 2009
MANILA, Philippines—The anti-graft court Sandiganbayan on Wednesday dismissed falsification charges against former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) undersecretary Salvador Pleyto.
In granting the official’s motion to dismiss the charge, the graft court cited an earlier Supreme Court ruling saying Pleyto did not deliberately lie in his 2002 Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) and was able to explain some discrepancies.
The Sandiganbayan found merit in Pleyto’s argument that the high court’s decision had set a precedent on how the two falsification charges against him should be resolved.
Pleyto is also seeking the dismissal of another graft case against him.
The Office of the Ombudsman filed the falsification charges against him in 2004 based on initial findings of the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) that he had failed to declare at least four properties in his SALN.
Pleyto was convicted on administrative charges and dismissed from the service.
It was alleged that while Pleyto declared total assets of P4.5 million in his 2001 SALN and P5.9 million in his 2002 SALN, the real value of his assets were actually P9.9 million as of 2001 and P14.7 million as of 2002.
However, Pleyto took his case to the Supreme Court, which overturned the dismissal in 2005.
The high court said Pleyto was only guilty of negligence in accomplishing his 2002 SALN, a violation penalized only with forfeiture of some of his retirement benefits.
Pleyto had explained that some properties in question were in fact declared in his SALN under different acquisition dates.
The court said: “The discrepancy is more apparent than real. The alleged irregular entries in the SALN were not absolutely false as the discrepancies had been sufficiently explained by the accused.”
It also upheld his argument that the high court’s decision had set a “res judicata with respect to the criminal charges (against him).”
