“Inordinate delay” was again invoked by the Sandiganbayan when it dismissed the graft charges filed against an Iloilo vice mayor.
The anti-graft court’s First Division, in a resolution dated May 28, granted the appeal of Vice Mayor Rufino Palabrica III of Dingle, Iloilo, to dismiss the four counts of graft charges levelled against him.
“Suffice it to state that the instant cases do not involve complicated issues and voluminous documents as would justify the preliminary investigation of nearly nine years,” the anti-graft court’s First Division said in the resolution written by its chairman, Associate Justice Efren dela Cruz.
Associate Justices Geraldine Faith Econg and Edgardo Caldona concurred with the ruling.
The court likewise ordered the lifting of the hold departure order against Palabrica and the release of his bail bond.