Prosecution opposes Honasan's SC plea

Ombudsman prosecutors have opposed the plea of Senator Gringo Honasan before the Supreme Court questioning the jurisdiction of the Sandiganbayan to try him over his alleged misuse of P30 million worth of public funds.

In a 15-page comment, the prosecution said there was no abuse of authority when the Sandiganbayan issued a warrant of arrest against Honasan after it found probable cause against him.

“No grave abuse of discretion amounting to or lack of excess of jurisdiction can be rightfully attributed to the respondent court,” the prosecution said. 

Honasan is facing two counts of graft for allegedly releasing his P30-million congressional allotment to the National Council of Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) to finance livelihood projects for Muslim communities in the National Capital Region and Zambales province.

According to Ombudsman investigators, Honasan tapped NCMF as implementing agency and Focus Development Goals Foundation, Inc. as non-government organization-partner without complying to government procurement rules.

Honasan attempted to dismiss the charges due to lack of sufficient evidence but the Sandiganbayan denied his motion, thus forcing him to elevate his case to the Supreme Court.

However, the prosecution said the Sandiganbayan was correct in denying Honasan’s motion to quash arrest warrant and reinvestigate the case since this resembles a bid for a judicial determination of probable cause, which is prohibited under the Continuous Trial Rule.

It added the arguments in the petition are unsubstantiated, blaming Honasan for failing to challenge his charges by filing a counter-affidavit during the preliminary investigation of the Ombudsman.

“The fact that petitioner failed to comply with the said directive — and now attempts to redo what had already been done at the preliminary stage and at the time the Sandiganbayan determined probable cause for the issuance of warrant of arrest unmasks the dilatory nature of this present petition and, more notably, its failure to show, much less establush grave abuse of discretion on the part of the Sandiganbayan," it said.

The prosecution also urged the SC to deny the petition for certiorari of Honasan for lack of merit since the details of his plea are "evidentiary in nature" that should be discussed by his defense counsels in the trial proper. —KBK, GMA News