Sandiganbayan clears Barbers of graft, malversation charges

The Sandiganbayan Second Division has cleared former Surigao del Norte Governor Robert Lyndon Barbers of criminal charges in connection with the purchase of overpriced fertilizer back in 2004.

Barbers was charged with two counts of graft and two counts of malversation for purchasing from Rosa Mia 3,332 kilos of Elements Foliar Fertilizer priced at R1,500 per kilo.

He paid the supplier a total of R4,998,000 (R3,249,000 in May 2004 and R1,749,000 in December 2004) even though it was overpriced at R1,333 per kilo.

In his motion to quash, Barbers cited the violation to his right to speedy disposition of cases. He said there was an “unexplained delay” by the fact-finding investigation in the instant criminal cases before the office of the Ombudsman.

“With evidence gathered in about five years of investigation, involving accused who was charged for violation of Section 3(e) of R.A. 3019 and for malversation under the Revised Penal Code, the period of five years and three months consumed for the resolution of the instant cases cannot be deemed just and reasonable under the circumstances,” the motion reads.

Barbers acquired the foliar fertilizers between July and August 2004 for the first tranche, and December 2004 for the second tranche when he was still governor of Surigao del Norte.

The office of the Ombudsman started a fact-finding investigation on the fertilizer fund scam called Task Force Abono in 2006, executed the complaint on August 16, 2010, and filed the same on May 2, 2011.

Because of this, Barbers said “there is an unexplained hiatus of five years.”

For its part, the prosecution asserted that the fact-finding inquiry is separate from the preliminary investigation. The prosecution added that the allegation of delay is unwarranted, since it gave “particular regard” to the “facts and circumstances peculiar to each case.”

But after a careful study of the timeline, the court ruled that Barbers’ right to a speedy disposition of his criminal case has indeed been violated. “The prosecution did not offer any explanation why it took the fact-finding investigation five years from the issuance of the 2006 COA-Regional Technical Service Office Memorandum on May 2, 2006 until the filing of the complaint,” the resolution reads.

“Likewise, the prosecution failed to explain why it took the Office of the Ombudsman five years and nine months to conduct its preliminary investigation,” the resolution further reads.

The court stressed that any delay in the investigation must be duly justified, since the long period of delay is causing prejudice to the accused.

“The passage of time in the conduct of investigations has veritably weakened his ability to adequately prepare his defense,” the court explained. “Possible witnesses may not be able to recall accurately the specific events of the past. There is also an increase in the risk of losing important pieces of evidence and records.”

The court granted Barbers’ motion to quash and ordered that his charges be dismissed. The R140,000 bail he posted for his provisional liberty - R30,000 each for graft and R40,000 each for malversation - was also ordered released.