G.R. No. 233063 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. HON. SANDIGANBAYAN (FIFTH DIVISION), REYNALDO O. PAROJINOG, SR., AND NOVA PRINCESS E. PAROJINOG ECHAVEZ.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, in the light of the foregoing, the Omnibus Motion is hereby GRANTED. The Information is ordered QUASHED and the instant case is DISMISSED for violation of accused's constitutional right to speedy disposition of cases[.] Accordingly, the hold-departure issued by the Court against the accused is hereby LIFTED and SET ASIDE, and the bonds they posted for their provisional liberty are ordered RELEASED, subject to the usual accounting and auditing procedures. [14] In granting the motion to quash, the Sandiganbayan ruled that the following elements need to be proven in order to constitute a violation of Section 3(h) of RA 3019, to wit: (1) the accused is a public officer; (2) he has a direct or indirect financial or pecuniary interest in any business, contract, or transaction; and (3) he either (a) intervenes or takes part in his official capacity in connection with such interest, or (b) is prohibited from having such interest by the Constitution or by any law. It found that the allegation in the Information that the subject business is owned by the family of respondent Mayor Parojinog was glaringly deficient as it did not state if he had any interest in the business; hence, the second element had not been properly alleged. As to the third element, it found that the Information did not state how respondent Mayor Parojinog intervened or participated in furtherance of the alleged financial interest nor did it state that he had any financial interest prohibited by the Constitution or by any other law; that the acceptance of the project only after it was completed cannot amount to intervention or participation of respondent Mayor Parojinog in order that the project could push through since it was the DPWH which bidded out and awarded the project to the company. The Sandiganbayan dismissed the case because there was a violation of respondents' right to a speedy disposition of cases. It took into consideration the period from the receipt by the Office of the Ombudsman­ Mindanao of the anonymous letter-complaint up to the filing of the Information in this case, which amounted to a total of five (5) years and eleven (11) months; that the delay could not be ignored by separating the fact-finding investigation from the conduct of preliminary investigations as all stages to which the accused was exposed should be included; that there was no explanation offered for such delay. The Sandiganbayan found that respondents had raised the issue of the violation of their right to a speedy disposition of cases in their motion for reconsideration of the Resolution finding probable cause; and even if they did not, there was no need to follow up their case. There was prejudice to the respondents since relevant documents could have already been lost since the subject business was only required to keep its business books, accounts and other documents for three years. Petitioner People of the Philippines filed a motion for reconsideration which the Sandiganbayan denie